Give Your Body a Clean Sweep

Fiber is an inexpensive essential for good health, says Margaret Durst. She explains how much you need and the best places to get it.

Fiber is essential to good health. It is the bulk that helps move food and waste through our digestive tract. It acts like a broom in sweeping our digestive system clean, and it also acts like a sponge in absorbing toxins, hormones, cholesterol and bile salts so that they will not be reabsorbed by our body.

In addition to keeping things moving through our digestive systems, fiber nurtures healthy bacteria in our gut that balances pH, keeps harmful bacteria in check, and detoxifies chemicals in the gut that can cause cancer or other problems. Lack of fiber, seems to be the precursor to some common complaints such as diverticular disease, bowel cancer, appendicitis, and hemorrhoids. All of these diseases are virtually unheard of in cultures that consume plenty of fiber. Read more