Health Benefits of Psyllium Fiber - Food and Health

Health Benefits of Psyllium Fiber

Psyllium fiber briefly psyllium fiber is also known as aspo Gullah which I probably said wrong that's the common name used for several members of the plant genius plant I go and specifically this plant is harvested for the husk of its plant seed I'm going to start with the easy stuff primarily psyllium is used as a dietary fiber which is not well absorbing the gut and acts as a bulking agent helping retain water in the gastrointestinal tract and preventing in treating constipation it makes bowel movements easier and more regular notably it does not cause flatulence like most constipation medications the well-known over-the-counter product Metamucil is produced from psyllium fiber studies have shown that it can modestly decrease diarrhea and loose stools and helping them to become more regular and firm and it may also help with irritable bowel syndrome although studies are mixed psyllium appears to help lower cholesterol a study published in 2002 250 adults with hypercholesterolemia who are randomly assigned to either daily psyllium husk or a placebo for 26 weeks and they found at 5.1 grams of psyllium twice a day produces significant reductions in serum total and LDL concentrations in men and women with primary hypercholesterolemia more recently a 2009 meta-analysis was published looking at the same thing the authors looked at all studies comparing psyllium fiber and his cholesterol lowering effect ultimately including 21 studies they concluded that compared to placebo psyllium fiber produced significant reductions in both total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol they also found that there was a dose-dependent relationship meaning more psyllium fiber intake produced greater reductions researchers have also looked at high blood pressure a 2009 study examined the effects of psyllium fiber on high blood pressure and in this study 141 hypertensive adults were randomized to six months of psyllium powder guar gum to be taken before meals or to a standard diet they found that six months of psyllium fiber significantly reduced both systolic blood pressure and diastolic blood pressure a smaller study a couple years earlier also looked at the effects of dietary fiber but not gliese ileum injures similar conclusions the author state dietary protein and soluble fiber supplements lower blood pressure additively in hypertensive patients it is reasonably well documented that increased fiber intake is associated with a reduction in risk of coronary heart disease and death from heart disease I couldn't find the study specifically looking at heart disease and so in fiber but there are some really great publications looking at non specific fiber intake a 2004 study completed a pooled analysis of 10 cohort studies that looked at coronary heart disease and fiber intake and then combined the data to draw conclusions they found that fiber intake was associated with a 14% decrease in risk of all coronary events and a 27% decrease in risk of coronary heart disease or death from heart disease an article was published in 2001 looking at dietary intake of fiber and type 2 diabetes the author's randomized 13 patients in a crossover study to two diets each for six weeks one with moderate fiber

Recommended by the American Diabetes Association and one with high fiber intake they found that high intake of dietary fiber improves glycemic control decreases hyperinsulinemia and lowers plasma lipid concentrations in folks with type 2 diabetes more recently a study published in 2015 look specifically at psyllium fiber and type 2 diabetes what they did is complete a meta-analysis of three randomized controlled clinical trials that were asking this question they concluded psyllium dose before meals showed significant improvement in both the fasting glucose concentration and glycosylated hemoglobin better known as hemoglobin a1c the relationship between psyllium obesity and weight loss isn't well studied but there is a body of evidence looking at dietary fiber and weight loss which would apply to psyllium fiber a 2005 study reviewed the currently available data and concluded studies that support dietary fiber preventing development of obesity our strong fiber intake is inversely associated with body weight body fat and body mass index and how exactly this works is not entirely clear one hypothesis is that dietary fiber like psyllium increases water absorption in the gut giving you a sensation of feeling full there's mixed evidence that psyllium husk may help with both Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis for example one study found that cilium maybe as effective as masala mean a medication used to treat ulcerative colitis to maintain remission of the disease however if you or someone you know suffers from one of these diseases I would advise against rushing out to supplement store to buy psyllium fiber supplements may actually exacerbate the symptoms of inflammatory bowel disease so do not begin taking them without consulting your doctor thirty years ago there was some exciting studies published that suggested that high fiber diets may reduce your risk of developing colon cancer more recently some of the wind was taken out of the sails and the most recent studies finding modest at best association a 2011 study completed a systematic review and meta-analysis of 25 prospective studies looking at dietary fiber and grain intake and its association with colorectal cancer they found a high intake of dietary fiber was associated with a 10% reduced risk of colorectal cancer which was statistically significant another study published in 2000 looked at recurrence of colorectal cancer what they did is include 2,000 men and women over the age of 35 who had recently had a colorectal adenoma removed within six months and then randomized them to either a normal diet or a high-fiber diet there was no difference in recurrence of adenoma between those two groups and so in conclusion we can make some statements about psyllium it is a readily available over-the-counter supplement that has multiple benefits demonstrated in the research that I have provided above including benefits for constipation diarrhea and irritable bowel syndrome shown to lower cholesterol blood pressure and risk of heart disease improves blood sugar control and type 2 diabetics associated with healthy weight BMI and weight loss it may be beneficial for inflammatory bowel disease but you should talk to your doctor first and finally a modest decrease in the risk of colorectal cancer...