A Dietary FiberDietary Fiber, the undigestable part of plants consumed as food. It is sometimes called bulk or roughage and is found in fruits, vegetables, and grains. Dietary fiber consists primarily of cellulose, a component of plant cell walls. Because fiber cannot be digested, nutritionists disregarded it for many years. But since the 1970s researchers have better understood the health benefits of fiber, and it is now considered an important part of a healthy diet.
When soluble fiber mixes with water, it forms a gel-like substance that slows digestion and helps the intestines absorb valuable nutrients from food. Nonsoluble fiber passes through the small intestine largely unchanged. In the large intestine, it softens and adds bulk to the stool (solid body wastes) and helps food pass through more quickly. Both types of fiber have health benefits.
Benefits of Dietary Fiber
Dietary fiber increases the body’s sense of fullness. Therefore, diets high in fiber can help prevent overeating and obesity. High-fiber foods also tend to have fewer calories for their volume than foods lower in fiber—another plus for dieters.
A diet high in fiber protects against constipation. Constipation and straining to move the bowels can increase pressure on the intestinal wall and lead to other conditions such as hemorrhoids and diverticulitis. Diets low in fiber increase the risk of developing these conditions.
Fiber also appears to have an effect on heart disease and diabetes. Studies have shown that soluble fiber lowers levels of artery-clogging cholesterol in the bloodstream. High cholesterol levels can contribute to arteriosclerosis and coronary heart disease. Fiber can also slow the body’s absorption of sugar. By lowering glucose (blood sugar) levels, fiber can help people with type II diabetes.
For a time dietary fiber was thought to offer some protection against colorectal cancer by dissolving and removing cancer-causing substances from the large intestine. A link between fiber consumption and colorectal cancer was found in small studies. However, larger studies failed to confirm that finding.
Sources of Dietary Fiber
Most people in industrialized societies consume too little dietary fiber. People can boost their intake of dietary fiber by eating more fruits, vegetables, and grains. Dried peas and beans are especially high in fiber. Whole-grain breads have more fiber than white bread or pasta. Raw and cooked fruits and vegetables have more fiber than juices and other processed fruits and vegetables. Bran muffins, oatmeal, brown rice, and multiple-grain cereals are all high in fiber. So is popcorn, but skip the butter.
People who increase their consumption of fiber should also drink more liquids to avoid constipation. In addition, it is a good idea to add fiber to the diet slowly. Eating more fiber over a short period can cause bloating, intestinal gas, and mild abdominal cramping. These symptoms usually disappear as intestinal bacteria adjust to the increase in fiber.
Constant and Proper Exercise
The benefits of exercise are great if the physical activity is done gradually and progressively, and according to the rules of good training. The benefits are psychological, anatomical and physiological. They can also have preventive and medical value, as physical and mental deterioration may be prevented to some extent.
People exercise for reasons determined by 50 years of research. This statement is especially true for persons age 45 or older. Most improvements are harder to make for that age group, but positive changes are nevertheless impressive for persons who persist and use good methods.
Some of the principal benefits of exercise have been documented and verified. First, we know that exercise fulfills a basic need of the body. When done reasonably, moderately and persistently, it is mentally relaxing and satisfying. Exercise makes people feel better.
Exercise also drains off excess calories. There is a caloric cost for every exercise, and the longer a person exercises the more calories are burned off.
Continual rhythmical (aerobic) exercises are easier on the body, relatively better for circulation and respiration, and the best way to use up calories. However, other exercises have specific value in sports (speed, strength, agility, flexibility, power, balance and coordination). Many other exercises also have social value, such as dancing, swimming and boating. A combination of various types of exercise is best.
Exercise can also have a positive effect on the central nervous system. Good rules of training involve gradual warm-up, progressive intensity, alternation of easier and harder work, tapering down activities, a shower and a rubdown.
Over a period of time, exercise strengthens the heart, muscles and glandular system. The body is trained to take more exercise, resist stress and minimize fatigue. Persistant endurance exercise, coupled with exposure to the outdoors, may actually raise the basic metabolic rate and permit food to be used better. Many middle-aged and older people suffer from undue fatigue and exhaustion. Exercise may actually increase energy-making cells.
Alternating exercising and stretching with deep breathing tends to adapt body tissues to unusual overuse such as joint trouble and injury. Millions of older people suffer from pain caused by earlier injuries of this type. This causes them to avoid exercise and accelerate their state of physical inactivity.
MEASURE YOUR OWN FITNESS
Balance
1. Hold diver's stance (on toes, arms outstretched, eyes closed) for 20 seconds.
2. Squat with hands on floor, knees outside elbows. Rock forward and balance on hands for 10 seconds, toes off floor.
3. With one finger on the floor, take 10 turns around finger, then walk a 10-foot line in 5 seconds.
Flexibility
4. Bend at waist and touch floor with palms of hands, keeping knees stiff.
5. From sitting position with knees held down, bend forward slowly until forehead is 8 inches from floor.
6. Lie face downward with back held down and hands behind neck; raise chin 18 inches from floor.
Agility
7. Kneel so that insteps are flat on floor; spring to feet and balance 3 seconds.,
8. Spring up from floor and touch hands to toes while in air. Do 5 times.
9. Squat; extend legs backward, jump back to squat, stand upright 6 times in 10 seconds.
Strength
10. Pick up partner your own weight and place on shoulders in 10 seconds.
11. With heels on floor, head on partner's knee and hands on hips, hold body rigid for 30 seconds.
12. Support body on knees and forearms. Lower chest until chin and chest touch floor. Hold for 20 seconds.
Power
13. Do standing broad jump, the distance of your height.
Endurance
14. Lie face downward, hands flat under shoulders. Weight on knees and hands. Do 30 push-ups; lift body, straightening arms; lower body slowly to floor.
15. Lie on floor, straddled by standing partner. Grab her (his) hands and pull yourself up until your body strikes her (his) legs 10 times.
16. Sit in V-position with legs and back off the floor. Hold for 60 seconds.
17. Run in place for 2 minutes at 180 steps per minute. Then hold the breath for 30 seconds.
18. In succession, do 200 two-footed hops, 200 straddle jumps (jumps from I to inverted-Y position), 200 alternate-stride hops, 50 hops on each foot, and as many squat-jumps as possible.
In each area there are relatively easy, medium, and more difficult items.
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