Did you know that dietary fiber is mega important for our health? We tell you everything you need to know about water-insoluble substances and which foods contain insoluble fiber!
Fiber doesn't sound good for digestion at first. Who needs additional dietary fiber? The answer: We all do!
The name is actually somewhat awkwardly chosen. This is because for a long time it was not known what soluble and insoluble fiber were good for in the first place.
Today we know: They are enormously important for our digestion and help us to stay healthy!
Table of contents
Dietary fiber - what is it actually?
Dietary fibers are indigestible components of our food. They have a very great influence on our digestion and thus also on our health.
Watch out: These are the top 50 foods with particularly high fiber!
A distinction is made between soluble and insoluble dietary fiber. Both influence our digestion, their speed and how we absorb nutrients from food.
Dietary fiber is said to help prevent constipation, gallstones and heart attacks.
Would you have guessed that changing your diet could be so easy?
Many high-fiber foods have a fibrous structure and are therefore called crude fibers or dietary fibers.
You can find soluble fiber in vegetables and fruits. We have already dedicated a separate article to them.
Today, however, insoluble fiber is on the menu.
Properties of insoluble dietary fiber
Water-insoluble dietary fibers hardly change their structure during digestion. They are excreted almost undigested. You may know this if you have eaten a lot of kernels or corn. :)
Insoluble dietary fiber is one of the indigestible carbohydrates.
That's why you can't live without soluble fiber!
Unlike water-soluble fiber, insoluble fiber is less able to swell with water.
These components are hardly broken down by our intestinal bacteria. They ensure that our stool volume becomes much larger.
And it is precisely these large heaps that are healthy for us. The more insoluble fiber you eat, the more your intestines are stimulated. And this leads to food residues being passed out of our bodies more quickly.
As you can probably guess by now, that's exactly why insoluble fiber is so wonderful for keeping constipation at bay.
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All in all, a diet rich in fiber can prevent many diseases.
First and foremost, gastrointestinal diseases such as constipation, metabolic diseases such as obesity, or cardiovascular diseases such as high blood pressure.
Water insoluble dietary fiber
- increase the amount of stool and its weight
- stimulate the muscular activity of the intestine
- ensure that food is passed out of our body more quickly
- prevent constipation
Dietary fiber ensures that harmful substances pass through the colon more quickly. So quickly that, in the best case, they can do no harm.
Typical examples of insoluble dietary fibers are cellulose, lechenin, chitin, hemicellulose, hexosans, pentosans, lignin and xanthan gum. You will find them mainly in leafy vegetables, legumes and whole grains.
Important: If you eat fiber-rich foods, you should always drink enough! Fiber needs a lot of liquid in order to swell. Drinking too little can lead to constipation.
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The food industry also makes use of insoluble substances. The food additive E 460, for example, hides nothing other than cellulose. Xanthan gum bears the number E 415.
How much insoluble fiber is in foods
Whether soluble or insoluble, fiber is only found in plant-based foods. You should get a total of 30 grams of fiber per day. That may not sound like much at first. Nevertheless, only about 25% of all German women manage to eat 30 grams per day. All others are far below this value.
Sooner or later, this can cause digestive problems. At the top of the list is constipation.
To prevent this fun from happening to you, here's a chart of delicious foods that contain insoluble fiber.
However, foods can never contain only soluble or insoluble fiber. You will always find both in plant foods.
To help you get to 30 grams of fiber, this little cheat sheet may help. Of course, this is not everything you can and should eat per day. It should only be a part of it.
So you cover 15 grams of fiber per day:
- Breakfast: 1 bell pepper (75 grams) - 2 grams of fiber
- Snack: 1 handful of almonds (28 grams) - 2.4 grams of fiber
- Lunch: cooked Brussels sprouts (100 grams) and rice (150 grams) - 7.6 grams of dietary fiber.
- Snack: 1 apple (150 grams) - 3 grams of fiber
And you've already covered half of your daily requirement. If you eat a wholemeal bread in the morning and a soup and a salad at lunchtime, you have already fulfilled your quota.
Eating healthy at last: balanced nutrition is that simple!
What you need to keep in mind when you eat a lot of fiber
If you want to eat more fruits and vegetables, that's a very healthy thing to do. But radically changing your diet from one day to the next is not a good idea.
Your stomach and especially your intestines must first get used to it. With radical changes, you may experience terrible flatulence or even diarrhea.
Your gastrointestinal tract is simply overwhelmed with the amount of healthy food and shows you its displeasure.
Therefore, start by drinking at least 1.5 to 2 liters of water per day. Then slowly change your diet. Eat a wholemeal bread with vegetables for breakfast and vegetables and a salad for every lunch. With this you have already taken the first steps.
After that, you gradually incorporate more and more fiber-rich foods into your diet. It doesn't matter whether the fiber is soluble or insoluble. As I said, you can't have one without the other anyway. :)
Our conclusion
Insoluble dietary fibers ensure smooth digestion. They increase the volume of our poop without being digested to any great extent. Dietary fiber keeps us full for a long time and swells in the intestines. Do not forget to drink!
Good luck with your healthy diet!
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