All Videos for Fiber

Tree Nuts or Peanuts for Breast Cancer Prevention?

Eating fiber-containing foods—especially nuts—during adolescence may significantly lower the risk of developing potentially precancerous fibrocystic breast disease (fibroadenomas).



Whole Grains May Work as Well as Drugs

The consumption of three portions of whole grains a day appears as powerful as high blood pressure medications in alleviating hypertension.



Modern Meat Not Ahead of the Game

Since chronic inflammation underlines many disease processes, and saturated fat appears to facilitate the endotoxic inflammatory reaction to animal products, researchers have looked to wild animals for less unhealthy meat options.



Paleolithic Lessons

An evolutionary argument for a plant-based diet is presented, in contrast to “Paleo” fad diets.



The Ice Diet

The water content of plant foods may help explain why those eating plant-based diets are, on average, so slim. Can ice be thought of as having even “fewer” calories than water, since the body has to warm it up?



Tipping Firmicutes to Bacteroidetes

Certain phytonutrients may tip the balance of healthy gut bacteria in favor of flora associated with improved weight control.



Boosting Good Bacteria in the Colon Without Probiotics

Certain good bacteria in our gut can turn the fiber we eat into an anti-inflammatory, anti-cancer compound—called butyrate—that we absorb back into our system. We may be able to boost the number of butyrate-producing bacteria by eating a plant-based diet.



Fawning over Flora

The good bacteria in our gut can digest the fiber we eat, and turn it into an anti-obesity compound—called propionate—that we absorb back into our system.



How Phytosterols Lower Cholesterol

Phytosterols are plant-based cholesterol look-alikes in nuts and seeds that help maximize our body’s excretion of excess cholesterol.



How Fiber Lowers Cholesterol

Fiber bulks, speeds, and dilutes the intestinal waste stream to facilitate the removal of excess cholesterol from the body.



Diet Versus Drugs for High Cholesterol

Though official recommendations are to first treat high cholesterol with dietary change, many physicians jump right to cholesterol-lowering medications, such as statins, that can have an array of adverse side effects.



Uprooting the Leading Causes of Death

Death in America is largely a foodborne illness. Focusing on studies published just over the last year in peer-reviewed scientific medical journals, Dr. Greger offers practical advice on how best to feed ourselves and our families to prevent, treat, and even reverse many of the top 15 killers in the United States.



New Mineral Absorption Enhancers Found

The whole grain phytonutrient phytic acid (phytate) partially inhibits mineral absorption, but has a wide range of health-promoting properties, such as anticancer activity. By concurrently eating mineral absorption enhancers, such as garlic and onions, one can get the best of both worlds by improving the bioavailability of iron and zinc in plant foods.



The Benefits of Caloric Restriction Without the Actual Restricting

One mechanism by which caloric restriction may extend one’s lifespan is by upregulating dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), the most abundant steroid hormone in the human body. DHEA supplements are discouraged, but there may be a natural way to conserve levels as we age.



What Women Should Eat to Live Longer

A competing risks analysis of the Harvard Nurses’ Health Study compares the danger of smoking cigarettes to the danger of animal product consumption (cholesterol), and the benefits of plant foods (fiber) to the benefits of exercise.



Blocking the First Step of Heart Disease

By preventing the buildup of cholesterol in our bloodstream, we can prevent atherosclerosis in our coronary arteries—the leading cause of death in the United States for both men and women. This involves increasing our intake of fiber-containing plant foods, and decreasing our intake of trans fat, saturated fat, and cholesterol found in junk food and animal products.



Preventing COPD with Diet

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease is now the third leading cause of death. The good news is that. in addition to smoking cessation, there are dietary interventions that can help prevent COPD.



Raw Veggies vs. Cooked for Heart Disease

Fruit and vegetable consumption is associated with a lower risk of heart disease. But which is more protective—raw or cooked?



Bulking Up on Antioxidants

Even when fiber and fruit and vegetable intake are kept constant, choosing foods richer in antioxidants may increase stool size, which is associated with lower cancer risk.



Anti-Inflammatory Antioxidants

Even when choosing the same quantity of fruits and vegetables, those making higher antioxidant choices experienced a reduction in C-reactive protein (inflammation) levels.



Bowels of the Earth

Which country has the largest (and smallest) average stool size?



Food Mass Transit

Most women experience a four-day intestine transit time; likely too long to meet the target 200 gram (half pound) minimum fecal output for cancer prevention.



Stool Size Matters

Larger bowel movements are associated with lower risk of appendicitis, colon cancer, constipation, and diverticulitis.



Relieving Yourself of Excess Estrogen

Women eating vegetarian may have lower breast cancer rates because they have larger bowel movements.



Multivitamin Supplements & Breast Cancer

New research suggests that multivitamin use may significantly increase the risk of breast cancer and prostate cancer.



Convergence of Evidence

Profile of an editorial published by Dr. Dean Ornish in the American Journal of Cardiology describing the optimal diet, and how simple choices can be as powerful as drugs and surgery.



Diverticulosis and Nuts

Should people with diverticulosis avoid nuts, seeds, and popcorn?



Plant vs. Cow Calcium

What baggage comes along with the calcium in milk?



Just the Flax, Ma’am

Ground flax seed consumption may decrease breast cancer risk by slowing one’s menstrual cycle. It may also control prostate enlargement as effectively as the leading prescription drug.