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Green For Life
> Fiber: The Magic
Sponge
Chapter 8
Fiber: The Magic
Sponge
Dr. Bernard Jensen, D.C., Ph.D., one of the most renowned
nutrition experts in the world and author of many popular health books, stated
that:
"Any cleansing program should begin in the colon ... In the 50 years I've spent
helping people to overcome illness, disability and disease, it has become
crystal clear that poor bowel management lies at the root of most people's
health problems. In treating over 300,000 patients, it is the bowel that
invariably has to be cared for first before any effective healing can take
place."
The main purpose of consuming fiber is elimination.
Without fiber, complete elimination is nearly
impossible, if possible at all. The human body is built miraculously in
such a way that almost all the toxins from every part of the body, including
millions of dead cells, end up in the human sewage system daily - the colon. The
colon fills up with waste matter so full of poison that we look at it with
disgust, not daring to touch it. In order to eliminate this matter, the body
needs fiber.
There are two main kinds of fiber: soluble and insoluble. Soluble fiber is found
in fruit, beans, peas, oat bran and especially in chia seeds. It has a gel-like
consistency that improves bowel movements by increasing the volume of bulk in
the colon. Soluble fiber binds together cholesterol in the small intestines and
takes it out of the body. Certain soluble fibers such as pectin (found in
apples) and guar gums (found in chia seed, oatmeal, legumes and mangos) slow
down the release of the sugars contained in the foods we eat, thus reducing the
risk of diabetes.
Insoluble fiber is found primarily in greens, peels, nuts, seeds, beans and
skins of grains. The elimination system is very complex. It has been perfected
by nature to every minute action. I'll try to explain this complicated process
with a very simple example. Insoluble fiber under a microscope looks like a
sponge, and indeed it serves us as a miraculous sponge, because every piece of
it can absorb many times more toxins than its own volume. Have you ever wondered
why we always like to have a sponge in our kitchen? We never use something
smooth, like paper or plastic to wipe dirty counters clean. Sponges are fibrous.
They make the job of cleaning easier by absorbing dirt. So does insoluble fiber.
It grabs the toxins and takes them out of the body and into the toilet.
Insoluble fiber is much better than any sponge because it can hold several times
more toxins than its own size. I call it a magic sponge.
If we do not consume fiber, most of the toxic waste accumulates in our body. Our
body is constructed in such a marvelous way that all the toxins are directed to
the bowels. This is the human body's sewage system. We need to understand that
we have to eliminate many pounds of toxins regularly.
Where do toxins come from? They come not only from inhaling dust and asbestos,
undigested food, ingested heavy metals and pesticides. A large amount of toxins
come from the dead cells of our own bodies. We know that cells are tiny and
sometimes conclude that the cell could not add much to the amount of waste in
our body. However, let's keep in mind that every year as much as 98% of the
total number of atoms in our body are replaced. That means anywhere from 70-100
pounds of dead cells per year, or more, should be passing out of our system. If
they don't, the dead cells of our own body can be one of the most toxic kinds of
waste because they begin to rot right away. It is important to understand that
when we do not consume enough fiber, we accumulate a lot more waste than our
bodies can handle.
Just as one cannot clean a kitchen without a sponge, the human body cannot
eliminate without fiber. Picture yourself being challenged to clean some large,
dirty space like a garage, with nothing but plastic wrap. I would give up. The
human body won't give up, but if there is no fiber, the first thing that happens
is our skin tries to take on the elimination "job" and as a result the skin
becomes rough and bumpy When our bowels are clogged, our body attempts to
excrete more mucus, through our eyes, nose, and throat, we sweat a lot more —
the body uses every possible channel to eliminate, but it's like pushing the
garbage out through the window screen instead of the door. By consuming enough
insoluble fiber we unlock the door to eliminate toxins from the body the easy
and normal way.
Now you are probably wondering how much fiber we need to consume for optimal
health benefits. According to research, the average wild chimpanzee consumes 300
grams of fiber per day! When I read that, I calculated how much fiber I consumed
each day. I came up with only 3 grams, because I used to love juicing. Very
often I would juice my fruits and vegetables rather than "waste' my time and
effort on chewing them. About thirty years ago, in the first books about juicing
I read, I learned that fiber was not digestible, contained no nutrients, and
served merely as a strain on the human intestinal tract. Since then juicing
became one of my regular habits. I was proudly juicing for days, even weeks,
trying to "cleanse" myself of toxins, and I considered myself to be maintaining
a very healthy diet! I became astounded by the comparison of 300 grams with
three. Moreover, I realized how harmful it was for my health when I consumed
zero fiber by juicing all the time. I decided that I couldn't afford to throw my
fiber in the compost any more. Green smoothies are definitely superior to
juices. Yet I still consider that juicing could contribute to health in specific
situations.
Albert Mosseri, famous French doctor of Natural Hygiene, has radically changed
the classical "Sheltonian" method of fasting on water. After supervising 4,000
long-term water fasts conducted at his clinic, he came to the extraordinary
conclusion that long-term fasts were a "risky waste of time." He now oversees
much shorter water fasts followed by what he calls "half-fasts," in which he
introduces a limited amount of food rich in fiber in addition to water. During
this important stage of healing, his patients receive only one pound of fruits
and one pound of vegetables daily until their elimination is complete.26 Dr.
Mosseri states that switching to this "half-fast" method has accelerated
elimination to such a degree that 1.00% of his patients develop profound signs
of a deep cleansing process in the form of a dark coating of their tongue, often
charcoal black or dark brown.
Massive amounts of research on dietary fiber have been done all around the world
since the beginning of the last century. We now have tons of undeniable evidence
of fiber's many healing properties. Here are some of them:
- Fiber can strengthen a diseased heart.
- Fiber reduces cholesterol which decreases the risk of heart disease.
- Fiber prevents many different kinds of cancer, reduces cancer risks and hinds
carcinogens.
- Fiber can lessen the risk of diabetes and improve already diagnosed diabetes.
- Fiber steadies blood-sugar levels by slowing down the absorption of sugar.
- Fiber can strengthen the immune system.
- Fiber keeps our bowels healthy, relieves constipation, and promotes regularity
- Fiber prevents gallstones.
- Fiber promotes healthy intestinal bacteria.
- Fiber helps us lose weight and curbs overeating.
- Fiber binds up excess estrogen.
- Fiber prevents ulcers.
The U.S. recommended daily allowance for fiber is 30 grams per day The average
American consumes between 10 and 15 grams of fiber per day. That is far from
sufficient. Considering the fact that these 10 tiny grams of fiber would have to
absorb and move out several huge pounds of waste matter, 10 grams is almost
nothing. I think insufficient fiber intake is the main reason for aging in
humans. Look at any animal that lives in the wild. One can hardly guess the age
of a deer, zebra, eagle or giraffe. Whether they are at the age of two or
fifteen years old, they look the same. Wild animals only begin to slow down
during the last weeks before they die. On the other hand, it is often easy to
guess the age of humans, down to five years. At the same time, I have seen many
people who looked younger upon improving their elimination.
I believe we should consume 50 to 70 grams of fiber per day or more. However,
we have to increase the intake of fiber
gradually. It can be dangerous to switch overnight from 10 grams to 70.
Many of our bodies have degenerated over the decades due to the consumption of
processed foods. In addition, we have adopted many unnatural practices like lack
of exercise and spending most of the time indoors. Therefore, we need to
reintroduce healthy habits into our life slowly to give our body time to
readjust. Green smoothies are perfect for this gradual shift. Other sources of
fiber and especially fiber in the pill form can often create too drastic of an
increase of fiber in one's diet too fast and can result in a bloated feeling and
increased gas. Such unpleasant side effects can cause people to give up before
they even get a chance to experience the health benefits of fiber.
Fiber is an important component in the diets of chimpanzees. As I noted, they
consume 300 grams of fiber per day. In addition to eating many fiber-rich fruits
and leaves, they supplement their diet with pith and bark, both of which consist
of approximately 44% fiber.
Flaxseed is a perfect addition to the human diet. Flaxseed is very high in both
soluble fiber and insoluble fiber. It. contains 26% fiber (14% soluble, 12%
insoluble). Just 1/8 cup of flaxseed contains 6 grams of fiber.
I recommend adding flaxseed to your diet regularly. Flaxseeds have a tough outer
coating and should be freshly ground in order to receive the most nutritional
benefit. You can grind whole seeds with a coffee grinder or in a Vita Mix dry
container. I recommend adding one or two tablespoons of ground flax meal to your
salads, soups or smoothies. Flaxseed is also a good source of omega-3 fatty
acids, and it is by far nature's richest source of plant lignin, an important
anti-cancer phytonutrient.
My family has been intuitively adding flaxseed to our meals every day either in
the form of crackers or as flax meal. Igor has perfected a method for
dehydrating flax crackers to such a degree that he knows how to make his
crackers taste like pumpernickel, or sourdough toast, or everyone's favorite
Russian caraway bread. If you learn to make crackers like Igor, you will never
be lonely and you will have plenty of fiber, nature's sponge, in your diet.
Chapter 9 -
Greens For Homeostatis
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Green For Life by Victoria Boutenko
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