Heather Little-White, Contributor

You may recall your grandparents encouraging you to eat roughage for good health. Fibre, or bulk, is the same as roughage. Recently, much more research has been done on fibre to highlight its importance in today's diet. Fibre is even now highlighted in fibre-type laxatives and high-fibre cookies have almost become the standard snack.

Fibre is the tough, cellulose part of plants such as stems, leaves, coverings of fruit and seeds which are not affected by digestion as it passes through the intestines. Humans do not have the enzymes to break down fibre and so it literally passes through the intestines as a broom to clean out the intestines.

early diets

Fibre has been around from early diets as about 2,400 years ago, Hippocrates said, "Wholesome bread clears up the gut and passes through as excrement." Dr John Kellogg was a vegetarian advocate who developed the popular Kellogg's corn flakes.

Generally, diets today contain only half the amount of fibre that they should. This because food consumption in Jamaica is composed of large amounts of processed, refined foods, including cereals and bread, from which the bran was removed during milling. Fibre is located in the outer covering [bran] of grain. During food preparation, vegetables are usually overcooked and fruits are more easily juiced that eaten raw.

As fibre moves through the intestine, the obvious benefit is to prevent or relieve constipation. The number of preparations on pharmacy shelves - from pills, suppositories to enema kits - for treating constipation indicates that western diets do not have enough fibre.

Some people become addicted to laxatives and eventually have difficulty in moving the bowels by themselves. In folk medicine, natural laxatives included almonds, apples, figs, flaxseed, grapes, mangoes, papayas, parsley, pineapples, soybeans, walnuts and watercress.

In western diets, foods are highly refined and may take three to four days to pass through the intestines. Subsequently, stool is small and hard and requires straining to move the bowels. This places high pressure on the colon. When there are adequate amounts of fibre in the diet, the bulk of stool increases and passes through the intestinal tract in half the time and with less difficulty. Fibre holds water, so it makes the stool softer and easier to pass. This bulking up also places less pressure on colon.

diet-related diseases

Besides constipation, low-fibre diets contribute to a number of diet-related diseases including gall stones, Type Two diabetes, obesity, thrombosis, diverticulitis, colorectal cancer and haemorrhoids.

Diverticulitis is a common disorder of the large intestine and usually appears in persons 50 years old and over. Little pockets called diverticula are found on the outside of the colon when the high pressure on the inside forces apart the lining of the colon through a weak place in the wall. The pockets may bleed and persons suffering from diverticulitis may experience serious abdominal pain, cramps and constipation. Diverticulitis is rare in countries like Africa where high-fibre diets are the tradition.

Another health challenge, appendicitis, can be prevented by high-fibre diets. The same is true for colon cancer, one of the more common cancers. When the intake of fibre is high, it speeds up the passage of stool through the colon, decreasing the amount of time for potentially cancer-causing toxins to remain in contact with the membrane lining the colon. Haemorrhoids, which are varicose veins of the anus, are another irritating condition caused by low-fibre diets. Excessive straining during constipation to move bowels may result in veins becoming swollen, dilated, irritated and painful. Defecation can rupture the swollen blood vessels and may cause bleeding.

With adequate amounts of fibre in the diet, there will be no need to take laxatives, herbal or otherwise. As you get used to fibre, you will experience better health and well-being.

Heather Little-White, PhD, is a nutrition and lifestyle consultant in the Corporate Area. Send comments to editor@gleanerjm.com or fax 922-6223.