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Earlier this week I have been presenting my own vision on the topic of mind-body connection and how this subtle, delicate relationship really means a lot when it comes to our own health and well being and why we should be focusing on bringing more awareness into this area if we do not do this already. Now, as a related topic to this  mind-body connection, I would like today to discuss the benefits of including lots of sources of healthy dietary fibers into a day to day life in order to achieve greater health and amazing lifestyle perspectives.

When we look at the simple comparison between processed foods and simple, natural foods, the first thing that comes to mind and that has been acknowledged by many scientists over the year is the fact that the more processed a food gets, the less nutrients are actually going to be present in that food. The points that support those ideas are pretty easy to understand and accept, and when I say this I am especially referring to ideas such as loss of important enzymes, various nutrients that foods contain in their natural state but that are lost due to intense cooking or other forms of industrial processes that take place in order to make food last longer and have a cheaper price and cheaper production costs. Well, of course there is a counterargument  here that seems to arrive from time to time and that might also have some scientific evidence in it but it is still researched in order to bring a better understanding and this concept is the idea that sometimes by cooking foods people might actually increase their ability to digest some foods or even to provide better absorption of some nutrients. Coming back to my point announced earlier in the paragraph there are reasons why big corporations choose this hard processing of foods and two of those reasons are as I said making food last longer and lowering costs for production and selling in order to increase profits. So if we look at  those things we might say that there is nothing wrong with it maybe, but from our bodies points of view there is a big gap that comes with eating hardly processed foods and that is loosing precious nutrients during this processing techniques which then leads to strong deficiencies in our bodies if we choose to live this way. The main thing here is that our bodies need those nutrients, fibers, enzymes that are found in foods in their natural state and in order to best absorb them and tend to health the human body needs to receive proper nutrition.

When it comes to fiber, this is one of main magical things that come from the plant kingdom. It is absolutely impressive how well balanced and full of fiber contents plant foods can be. But why is fiber so important? Well first of all it is great for that sensation of satiety that we have all noticed is very hard to get with processed foods. People seem to be wanting more and more food when they eat processed foods in order to fit their appetite, but when it comes to raw plant foods, satiety is just one magical benefit that eating a vegetarian diet brings. Another important aspect of  the use of dietary fibers is of course their effect on the digestion, elimination and detoxification processes that take place in the human body. Fiber helps the body transport the food, eliminate bad substances and toxins and help clean the bowels while they travel through the body on their way out. So fiber does not only make you feel satiated more easily but it also helps you naturally go to the bathroom and have a balanced, healthy transit.

There are many sources of plant fibers but I am only going to mention a few that I use most often and that are absolutely great both for satiation and healthy transit: psyllium husk, carob powder, oat bran, oat flakes, chia seeds, flax seeds, and of course lots of fresh fruits and vegetables etc. I personally find flax seeds and psyllium husk to be the best in relationship to my body and I have personally seen a longer sensation of satiety and a healthier transit due to their use. Most people eating a high processed diet have problems with constipation and that is many times a result of the reduced intake of fiber, but by increasing this fiber intake, by including more fresh fruits and vegetables, a tremendous change occurs and of course when we have a healthy working body we feel better, lighter and we come from a different and more relaxed state of mind. The body needs to be working properly, assimilate nutrients and eliminate the toxins, but in order to do this, and our bodies are great at doing what they were made for, we need to be willing to support our health by choosing the right foods for our own body constitution type and dietary needs and then everything just finds its way into bringing us back to a life lived in harmony with ourselves and with nature.