January 31, 2021

The lore of a “Fibrevore” - Nutrition & Diet (Significance of Fibre)

At times I feel amused thinking of my childhood. There is something about that stage of life which holds a special place in our hearts. To me it has been special in multiple ways, but if I must mention just one thing that I loved… “FOOD”, I mean REAL FOOD… Like I would eat 4 Aloo Parathas loaded with butter with no guilt and my mom wouldn’t mind asking me for another one.

How I wish if today I had the liberty to dive into the pool of this soft melted white butter making its way through paratha. Good old days, right?

But in this last decade our diet has been tampered badly. FAD diets are making rounds and calorie tracking apps are on top ranking in the download charts. Many kitchens in the world run with this trend, of course not even excluding mine! So it’s “tell-a-tale” time, here I pull out another one from the stack of my life events.

Like several other days, my breakfast table that day looked like some red-carpet ceremony of nutrients. All food groups- fruits and dry fruits, nuts and seeds, whole grains and healthy fats, were participating happily. It looked more like a rainbow spread over my table sky. While we all were settling down for breakfast, my picky-eater husband who was then following some Fad diet-trend gave me a dejected look and questioned, “What am I going to eat from this? This is all useless stuff. Where are my egg whites?”. All he wanted was to cover his protein requirements prescribed by his nutritionist. And yet again the big players of nutrition had got all the paparazzi and FIBRE- the real hero was left to corners.

TRUTH-BOMB ALERT!! Let’s bring our attention to the humble, less-talked member of food family- THE FIBRE! Before we go further, here is a disclaimer:

Erase all the information you already have about Fibre.
Trust me that Fibre is not as boring a talk as we thought of it.
Fibre is not limited to age-old-white-flaky Psyllium husk.

Now let’s put all preconceived notions aside and understand this star nutrient a little better.

What is Fibre?

If you ask me, in one phrase I will say- FIBRE is FIRE! No not literally, but because it ignites and strengthens the power of digestion. Naturally fibre is a part of plant cellular structure. Plant food has total monopoly over this nutrient. From nutritional perspective, fibre is a complex carb. And giving to its complexity, it passes through your mouth, then stomach and even through the small intestine. It also manages to reach your colon in the same molecular structure as it was in your mouth, helping your stools to pass easily (yay! You’re not gonna be constipated anymore!!).

Why do you need fibre?

Do you know the number of microbiota (gut bacteria) that resides in our body?

39 Trillion!!!!

I have lost the count of zeros in this figure. Holy Goodness! Just imagine the number of human cells in our body. I don’t even want to reach there.

Okay! So, 39 trillion residents happily living in the lower region of your body are known as your second brain. These tiny, invisible organisms are critically involved in the digestion process. Every single bite of food can affect your gut microbiota, as these invisible creatures survive on the food that we are eating.

Different microbes feed on different kinds of foods, therefore any food group missing permanently from your diet can starve that microbe species to its extinction.

And it won’t take some days or weeks, your gut gets affected with each morsel going into your mouth. Therefore, the health of your gut and your emotional wellbeing is entirely dependent on the food you choose.

In a nutshell, “A Happy Gut means a Happy YOU.”

Unhealthy microbes feed on unhealthy food, which eventually punishes our body by causing inflammation, bloating, brain fogging and many other problems. And prolonged habits of unhealthy food-eating can lead to DYSBIOSIS (disharmony of microbiota), which is the root cause of every disease.

Scared to nerves?? Don’t be, because we are going reveal the secret code to maintaining harmony with these tiny friends living down there. And we will unveil the magical powers of this EXILER- “Fibre”.

Till then, stay safe and healthy.

Love and light to all.