Anti-Aging Advice: 99 Steps to 100 by Walter M. Bortz, M.D.

Fiber is the skeleton of plants and fruits. It gives them their architecture. Plants are primarily made up of fiber. The Western diet, with its emphasis on processed animal foods, is fiber poor. The typical American diet may contain 12 grams per day, whereas diets in Third World countries may contain ten times as much. For millions of years, our ancestors ate only uncooked food, largely roots and shoots. They had healthy intestines.

Fiber Benefits
Fiber has no calories, and it is not absorbed by your gut. It comes in two varieties, the soluble and insoluble, both of which have positive health benefits. First, fiber decreases the incidence of different types of cancer by speeding the transit time of food in your intestine and diluting potential carcinogens. Second, it cuts down diverticulosis (the little pockets commonly found bulging off the colon in older people) and hemorrhoids. Third, it helps prevent constipation. I recall a fancy scientific lecture I attended in Boston a few years ago on the intestinal problems of older people. The speaker went on for the better part of an hour, but the punch line at the end concerned the secret for good bowel habit: "prunes." Fourth, it helps control weight by its bulk and ability to satiate, substituting for high-calorie foods.

Finally, and maybe most importantly, fiber is a major aid in lowering blood cholesterol. The soluble kind of fiber acts like a blotter in the intestine, helping absorb fat and cholesterol, and facilitating their excretion. This welcome effect of soluble fiber on cholesterol levels is also separate and above that of decreasing dietary fat. Said in another way, if you can lower your cholesterol 20 points by cutting fat, including soluble fiber will decrease it by another 20 points.

Fun with Fiber
Fiber can be fun. The "Tufts Diet and Nutrition Letter" of March 1994 lists a whole bunch of interesting fiber options that can add variety to your foods, including barley, couscous, and millet.

Fiber Supplements
Although regular foods are the preferred way of guaranteeing more dietary fiber, there are also a number of proprietary preparations available that all contain psyllium, a purified seed fiber product. These work in the same way as natural fiber, and they are frequently recommended by gastro-enterologists for their older patients who may be confronted with any of the conditions noted above.

Bottom line:
As you age, you should keep the fiber content of your diet high. The advantages are many, and the practice is cheap and safe.

Back to 99 Steps Intro