Fiber Supplements :: Nutrition Weight Loss Health Papers

A. Purpose of treatment: Fiber supplements benefit the body through maintaining regularity in the digestive system. Fiber supplements assist the body in compensating for fiber deficiencies when there remains an inadequate amount of fiber in the digestive system. In addition, fiber supplements help to relieve constipation. Fiber can become an aid in weight reduction as well. In all fiber supplements assist in the maintenance of good health and nutrition. B. Rationale of fiber supplements: After eating, one does not digest the total amount of food that they consume. Fiber becomes indigestible because of a certain class of a plant called cellulose. Ground up psyllium seeds, water absorbing particles, constitute the main component of commercial fiber supplements (Enker). A tablespoon, a bar, or certain class of pill contributes to approximately seventy-five percent of the recommended intake, or fifteen grams (Enker). One should take fiber supplements at night, and after a meal. Through regular use, the bowel can function in a regular, methodical manner. Fiber supplements help create roughage, and roughage then aids in discarding the body's toxins and wastes in the digestive tract. Fiber mixes with the stool, takes in liquid and increases into a "gel bead" (Enker). The stool then becomes moisturized through the gel bead, therefore relieving the colon. For this process to work, one must take these fiber supplements with an ample amount of water for absorption, thus accumul ating mucous and acting as a lubricant. There remain two classifications of fiber, insoluble and soluble, which have various physiologic effects. Insoluble fibers do not hold water. Insoluble fiber also increases intestinal conveyance, increases fecal weight, retards starch hydrolyses, and slows glucose intake. Water-soluble fiber soaks up water, increases, and adheres to bile acids. Because they emerge with bile acids, they become discharged; thus reducing insidious cholesterol and triglycerides into the blood. Fiber supplement manufacturers claim that insoluble fiber can reduce serum cholesterol, however it does not benefit the body in the most effective manner. They claim that soluble fiber remains the most efficient type of fiber because it becomes simple to digest and aids in converting the fiber into a gel. This gel then assists in making the other nutrients in the fiber supplements remain in the body for an extended period of time. This process helps to avoid dehydration. Furthermore, manufacturers believe that solu ble fiber creates a "full feeling" because the fiber expands in the stomach.