Most of us know that fiber keeps us regular, however we may not know that fiber is the food that the micro biome needs to survive. In fact, it’s their bread & butter.

We are only getting about 15 grams of fiber which is less than half of our daily requirement. Women require around 32 g of fiber while men need 38 g

Why Aren’t We Getting Enough Fiber?

There’s no fiber in meat, dairy, eggs. We get our fiber from fruit, veggies, beans, legumes, seeds, grains & nuts.

The Standard American Diet normally consists of high intakes of red & processed meat, pre-packaged foods, butter, fried foods, high-fat dairy products, eggs, refined grains, corn, high-fructose corn syrup and high-sugar.

As you can see without fiber to nourish the 100 trillion beneficial gut bacteria known as the microbiome, their population takes a dive, leaving us without their many benefits.

When we eat food that contains prebiotic fibers, the gut microbes in turn repay us by making compounds that quell inflammation or defend us against infection.

For instance, 79% of our immune system is found in the gut & 90% of the neurotransmitters like dopamine, GABA, serotonin, are secreted in the gut.

Another Important Reason to Feed the Beneficial Microbes in our gut is that the fiber they consume protects us from food allergies. Our large intestine has a thin mucin barrier separating its contents from the rest of our bodies. When our microbes go hungry for too long, they start to eat through the better part of that mucin barrier, opening up holes for all kinds of material to escape into the bloodstream, a condition known as leaky gut.

The body will spot this material as foreign and send the immune system into attack mode. That’s a good thing if the material is a harmful microbe, however if it’s a food particle it could trigger food allergies.

Humans don’t have the enzymes to digest plant fibers (prebiotics) that feed the friendly bacteria (probiotics) that live inside the large intestines, but the microbes in the lower gut can. The more prebiotics that probiotics have to eat, the better these probiotics work & the healthier your gut will be.

Some of these microbes like the species of the genus Lactobacilli live only as long as 25 minutes, while others die even more rapidly. An insufficient amount of dietary fiber decreases bacterial diversity while consuming more prebiotic food simply means more helpful microbes working on your behalf.

According to research, the richer and more diverse the community of gut microbes are, the lower your risk of disease and allergies.

Some research has suggested that for every 10 grams of prebiotics that reach the gut microbiome, about three grams of additional bacteria blossom into life.

Now that you understand the importance of these gut microbes & how essential they are to your health and survival; the question is, are you getting enough fiber in your diet? If you aren’t getting it through food, you need to get it through a supplement.

Please contact me for more details here.