Soluble Fiber as related to Digestion:

While scientifically proven benefits of an increased intake in soluble fiber addresses the prevention, or need for treatment, of diseases and conditions such as: weight loss, heart, cancer, glucose metabolism, diabetes, endurance, appendicitis, varicose veins, and menstruation problems.

There are many benefits having to do with the gastrointestinal track which can occur in diets lacking fiber. These include:
     • aiding digestion
     • gastrointestinal tolerance
     • candida
     • diverticular disease
     • hiatus hernia
     • ulcers
     • gallstones
     • hemorrhoids
     • irritable bowel and/or bowel irregularity like diarrhea
     • gaseous distention and
     • abdominal pain

It is also critical to understand that invasion and multiplication of infection-causing "unfriendly" bacteria, occurs most often in body tissues made susceptible to disease and lacking adequate resistance to the invasion.

Fiber's role in the gastrointestinal system is to help to keep a balance between the symbiotic relationships between pro-biotics and pre-biotics.

Pro-biotics are living strains of "good" bacteria, which help our digestive system work efficiently, e.g. bifidus and acidopilus. The symbiotic environment of the gastrointestinal system is dramatically changed by what we consume: processed foods, pollution and antibiotics. The population of ìgoodî bacteria that occur naturally throughout the system is reduced to such levels that it makes our bodies' more susceptible to invasion and disease.

Pro-biotics are bacterium that are nourished by fibers called Pre-biotics. Pre-biotics are a type of bacteria that pro-biotics feed on. Pre-biotics include fructo-oligosaccharides (FOS), oligosaccharides, inulins, and other soluble fibers.