Fiber is significantly important to the digestive system.  One of the things that I should mention here is that vitamin D seems to have significance to the bowel at lower levels of vitamin D.  The lining of the bowels are made of similar cells to skin cells.  What we have done to our digestive systems is truly egregious.  We have removed the fiber from our foods and then starved our systems of sunlight and ultimately vitamin D.

Here is a brief list of benefits of fiber:

• Normalizes bowel movements – insoluble fiber
• Maintains integrity of the bowel – insoluble fiber
• Controls blood sugar levels – soluble fiber
• Lowers cholesterol levels – soluble fiber
• Aids in weight loss – soluble fiber

Please read the Mayo Clinic page for the full benefits of fiber.

The thing that you should recognize immediately from this list is that excess cholesterol levels are related to how much sugar you eat and absorb and not to dietary fat.  I know that this is different than what you have heard all of your life but medicine is slowly changing while trying to save face.

I do not know the mechanisms, but when you eat fruit with fiber like whole fruit you do not absorb as much of the fructose in the fruit as when the fiber has been removed.  Drinking fruit juices with the fiber removed is dangerous to your health.  If you watch the video from my previous post on sugar by Dr. Lustig, Sugar: The Bitter Truth – UC television, you can appreciate the way he has you remember the importance of fiber. It is “fat or fart”.

It seems that one of the reasons that dietary fiber has been removed is that it adds to significant flatulence.  That is the reason when you eat beans that you have a lot more gas.  The bacteria in our guts that digest dietary fiber become active and create this gas.  It is typically methane gas or the worst of the greenhouse gasses.  That is the reason that Al Gore wants to shot all of our cows.  Just kidding!  The other reason that dietary fiber has been removed is that it adds to bulk which makes the shipment of foods more expensive.

So there you are with your glass of apple juice or orange juice with the dietary fiber removed and eating your white bread sandwich that also has the dietary fiber removed.  I hate to think about all of those meals that I feed my kids when they were growing up that was made of the above fiber-less foods.  I could have just given them a beer and whole wheat pretzels and it would have been as healthy.

It also seems that fiber helps our bodies to know when we have had enough food.  The fiber in food somehow aids the lepton signal to the brain to say, ‘ hey dude, you have had enough’.  I do not know if this is from bulk or from some other mechanism.  It was mentioned in Dr. Lustig’s video.

So, today it is beans for me, no wheat or sugar, and lots of sunshine and maybe some flatulence.  – Pandemic Survivor

I think it is possible to bring our population back to a reasonable average weight.  However, the multinational food companies are really not going to help you get there.  You have to take responsibility for what goes onto your table for you and your family.

As you know, I discovered vitamin D for health by making a correlation between obesity and central air conditioning in homes.  Vitamin D deficiency certainly helps if you have metabolic syndrome, or have reached a plateau in weight loss.  However, I do not believe that this is the prime cause.  There are a number of things that have been touted.  I will try to list them in the order of the worst offenders.

• High fructose corn syrup and general over consumption of processed sugar in all forms.  In the 1600’s we consumed sugar at a rate of less than 10 lbs per person to recent estimates of 150+ lbs per person per year.
• Diet that is composed primary of carbohydrates with the fiber removed.  Fiber is significant in that it helps you feel full and allows lepton to signal your brain that you are full.  Wheat products that were 40% protein 2000 years ago are now at about 15% protein.
• Iodine deficiency which prevents the thyroid form acting properly in its function of controlling the metabolism.
• Vitamin D deficiency.  Vitamin D is the prime driver for your endocrine system.
• Magnesium deficiency.  Magnesium is the cation of choice for over 300 enzymes in the body.  Enzymes are those things that act like catalyst in biological reactions.  Magnesium is also the cation of choice for your energy compounds, ADP and ATP.
• Commercial advertising of food when you are trying to maintain a healthy balance.  This particularly bad for emotional eaters – looking for the insulin rush.

Over the next several weeks we will explore each of these factors that are responsible for your weight control.  When I started supplementing with vitamin D, my weight was fairly stable at about 215 lbs.  I really had to keep it in control because if I gained weight it would cause significant pain in my back.  Now that the back pain is gone I have consumed recklessly because I could without having the pain.   I now come in at a nice plump 240 lbs.  At six foot two inches, and a large muscular frame, I carry the weight well.  However, I know that I most get it under 195 lbs or about where my body mass index crosses into the overweight zone.

Today I am starting a diet that is to be free of wheat and high fructose corn syrup.  I also plan to eat as many whole foods that are not processed as possible.  Processing destroys the natural enzymes in the food.  I will basically follow Dr. Eades formula for weight loss in the amount of protein that I consume.  I will not worry about fats and may even eat higher amounts of things like coconut oil.  I will not worry about the number of carbohydrates, but the foods that have carbohydrates.  That is I will try to eat vegetables with a lot of fiber like beans and salads.   My exercise plan is not an issue as I typically go to the gym every day in the early morning.

Join me if you like and we will see what happens over the next months.  – Pandemic Survivor