Fiber can also be known as roughage.  When we eat fats, proteins and carbohydrates, the body breaks them down and absorbs them.  Fiber however is not digested by your body.  It passes unchanged through your stomach and small intestine and into your colon.  The other foods are absorbed and can stick in the colon creating digestive problems.

Fruits and Vegetables

Fiber is often classified into two categories, insoluble and soluble.  If it is insoluble, it does not dissolve in water.  If it does dissolve in water, it is soluble fiber.

So what does that mean to you?

You should eat a variety of high fiber foods, soluble and insoluble.  Insoluble fiber promotes the movement of material through your digestive system and increases bulk.  This can help with constipation of irregular bowel movements.  The foods that contain insoluble fiber are foods containing whole wheat flour, wheat bran, along with nuts and vegetables.

As fruits are mostly water-based foods, they are soluble fiber.  With this kind of fiber, the food actually dissolves in water and forms a gel-like material.  This can help lower cholesterol and lower blood glucose levels.  The best foods for soluble fiber are peas, beans, apples, citrus fruits and carrots.

Fiber has many benefits, especially relating to colon health:

• Prevents constipation:  fiber helps in two ways.  It can increase the weight and size of your stool and soften it, making it easier to pass.  In the alternative, if you have diarrhea, fiber can help solidify stool.

• Reduces the risk of digestive problems:  A high fiber diet can lower your risk of hemorrhoids, irritable bowel syndrome and diverticulitis.

Fiber has other health benefits, including:

• Lowering cholesterol:  soluble fiber found mostly in beans, oats or flaxseed can help lower your LDL levels (or the bad cholesterol).

• Helps control blood sugar:  fiber will slow the absorption of sugar, hence improving blood sugar levels.

• Helps with weight loss:  a high-fiber diet tends to make a meal feel larger and linger longer, so you stay full for a greater amount of time. And high-fiber foods tend to be lower in calories than other foods, such as foods high in sugar.

• May reduce risk of colon cancer:  There is evidence that a high fiber diet may help lower the risk of colon cancer; however, your best bet is still to undergo regular colon cancer screenings.

Eating fiber can be an easy way to keep your colon healthy.  In having a healthy diet, you are less likely to have digestive problems, stomach problems or bowel movement problems.  And in changing your diet, you may be able to lose weight and lower your cholesterol.  In adding just a few things to your diet, you will be making tremendous progress.