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One of the great constants of the health and nutrition world is the quest for new diets. Every year, it seems, we hear about a new miracle diet that promises to totally revolutionize the way we eat and will make us feel and look younger and healthier than ever before. Suffice it to say, these diets tend to over-promise just a little bit. There is no miracle diet out there, and there is no substitute for eating a healthy, balanced diet along with exercise.

Even so, that does not mean that different dietary choices can’t have a profound impact on your health. In particular, recent studies have shown fiber to be advantageous. Of course, we have known that fiber can be good for your health far longer than we’ve known exactly what fiber “is.” That said, those aforementioned recent studies have demonstrated a link between the consumption of fiber and lowering the risk for certain diseases.

Why Fiber?

First, let’s get the big question out of the way – why fiber? What is it about this substance in particular that can help power your risk for disease? There are actually many reasons for this. Fiber can help keep your blood glucose level at a healthy level, can reduce the risk of obesity, and is likewise responsible for stimulating bacteria in your gut which can help prevent colon cancer.

What Should You Eat 

One of the biggest mistakes that people make when it comes to trendy diets is thinking that the key is eating or avoiding one set of food or another. The fact of the matter is that nutrition is more complicated than simply eating or avoiding certain foods.

It is far more important to get a healthy proportion of nutrients, regardless of the foodstuffs they make up. How you consume fiber and the type of fibrous food you eat is thus far less important than making sure you have the right proportion. For a healthy adult 25 to 30 grams of fiber a day is recommended.

You can thus lower your risk of disease by eating the right amount of fiber in your diet.