Fibre for fat loss? That’s right, fibre can actually help you lose fat.
We all know that fibre will help fight against heart disease, cholesterol, diabetes and colon cancer, but it also plays a role in fighting obesity. Fibre is a compound that only plants contain. That we consume from plant foods is called dietary fibre. Dietary fibre only comes from plant foods (i.e. grains, oats, fruits, etc.); it is never in animal foods (i.e. meats). Dietary fibre can be broken down into two forms, soluble and insoluble fibre
Soluble Fibre
Soluble fibre, as the name implies, dissolves in water. These fibres bind to bile acids and excrete them from the small intestine. Surplus cholesterol is disposed of in the liver as bile acids. Bile acids are then transported to the small intestine where they aid in lipid digestion. Bile acids are also essential for the absorption of these digested products. This binding of bile acids would help to decrease the cholesterol levels in the blood. It has also been said that soluble fibres help to regulate blood sugar levels.
Insoluble Fibre
Insoluble fibre, again as the name implies, does not dissolve in water. This type of fibre is known as roughage. Though it is not dissolvable in water, it does absorb it, causing an increase in fibre bulk. Bulking agents help to clear the gastrointestinal track of all its waste. By regular consumption of these fibre, the amount of time digested food sits in the intestine is decreased. This helps keep the body from absorbing starch and sugars in the intestine.
Insoluble fibre is responsible for the full feeling you get after eating them. This helps dieters by allowing them to eat fewer calories without feeling hungry afterwards. Insoluble fibres are hard to digest, so when they finally get to a point where they can be released into the intestine, they are still slightly intact. It is this reason that they make up the bulk of your stool. Since the insoluble fibres are only partially digested, it is hard for the undigested calories to be taken up by the intestine. By reducing calories and decreasing the amount of cholesterol in the blood, one could potentially lose weight/fat.