The INCREDIBLE Impacts of FIBER on Weight and Blood Sugar

Introduction to Fiber and Metabolic Health 0:00

Hey everybody, I want to talk to you about the power of fiber to reduce your weight and your blood sugar levels. You know, i see so many patients, as the statistics show, where 75% of the American population are overweight and of course diabetes is skyrocketing. Now there's many factors involved in lowering your, weight as well as your Blood Sugar levels, but today i want talk about The Power of Fiber. Because when you look at the research, you're finding this very simple technique of using the right type of, fiber the, right doses can make a pronounced effect on on your weight loss and dropping your blood sugar levels, as well as improving your appetite.

So let's get into this very important information that most people need to improve their weight and their blood-sugar levels. First of all, what is fiber? Well, fiber is basically something you find in plant foods, which is indigestible. You eat it, and most know it helps with bowel movement, helps it's regularity, because it can't be broken down in our digestive tract. another important role and that is it is a fuel supply to the good microbes the microbiome in our gut so it feeds the healthy bacteria which have many effects on the body helps you to feel full helps with your mood helps, with, your metabolism helps.

With your blood sugar levels and so we know this to be a fact in medicine now there's two types of main fiber you should be aware of one soluble fiber

What Fiber Is and Its Two Main Types 1:12

And this is a type of fiber that dissolves in water to form a gel-like substance in your digestive tract. And so this gel slows down digestion, and when it does, it leads to prolonged satiety. That means you feel full longer. It decreases your appetite, so you're less likely to overeat. it reduces the glycemic index of foods reading, because it helps to moderate blood sugar spikes after meals. So examples of soluble fiber would be the skin you have in apples, pears, you get in citrus fruits, carrots, broccoli, peas, cucumbers, celery, and then the most recognizable form of the soluable fiber is oat bran.

Now the second type is insoluble fibers and this is the type that does not dissolve in water and acts as a bulk agent and as I mentioned before helps with bowel regularity. And you find the insolubile fiber in cereal bran, whole grains, legumes and dried fruit. But here's the issue when it comes to fiber just in general. Here's an amazing statistic. 90% of women and 97% percent of men in US do not consume the recommended daily amount of fiber. And so this is going to lead to again problems with weight, not feeling full, overeating, and not regulating your blood sugar levels.

Of course, there's other risks. We know that people who consume higher fiber diets have less types of cancers and other health conditions. So very, very important. When you look at the amount of fiber that's recommended for adults over the age of 31, they should be getting 31 grams of Fiber a day and for females, 25 grams. And you looked at studies, most people in America get about half the amounts or 50% of the Fibre that they Should be Getting in their diet. So we have to work on this because there's no way we can be healthy unless we get enough fiber.

In the American diet with our refined flours, our lack of fibre rich foods, we're not eating whole foods this has a significant impact on insulin resistance,

Fiber Intake, Deficiency, and Why It Matters 2:56

appetite control and weight management. So let's go over some strategies of how to use fiber properly. Well one simple technique and one I often recommend to patients is to consume fiber rich foods or fiber supplements at the beginning of meals. Usually here in America people eat their vegetables and in the middle of their meal or at the end of the meal, they eat their carbs, their proteins, and their fats first. We need to reverse that because when you eat the fiber first, it has a powerful effect.

It improves satiation and satiety. So fiber plays a critical role in regulating your appetite. What is satiating? Well, that's the feeling of fullness during a meal and sitiety is the reduction of hunger after meal. Both are important, we need feel full during and after a meals and fiber helps you to accomplish that. And so whether it's from food or supplements, both help satiation and satiety. Well, I hope you're enjoying the video. If you are looking for quality supplements go to my website drstengler.com and there you can see the nutritional supplements I've been using with my patients for many decades.

They involve a lot of scientific research. Many of them I have created myself. So again, thank you for watching the videos and check out my supplement store at dr.stegler dot com. Let's talk about the viscous fibers because they're very key in terms of helping regulating your appetite. So, certain viscus fibers like pectin, psyllium, and guar gum are very effective. As I mentioned before, they form a gel in your stomach and intestines, slowing down how quickly food moves throughout your digestive system.

This prolongs the filling of fullness, but also helps to regulate glucose absorption. It prevents blood sugar spikes and insulin spikes, helping that insulin resistance. And as I mentioned before, these types of fibers are fermented by your gut microflora and they produce beneficial short-chain fatty acids like butyrate

Using Fiber at the Start of Meals 4:34

for example and other ones. And they help in burning fat for energy, they regulate fat storage and breakdown, and the improve insulin sensitivity. So fiber again feeding these good short chain fatty acid which affect your metabolism. Research shows an inverse relationship between fiber intake and obesity risk. Simply put, people who eat more fiber tend to be leaner. Increased dietary fiber also has been shown to promote weight loss in adults who are overweight or obese, especially when combined with calorie-restricted diets.

So let's look at a couple of interesting studies. One Japanese study highlighted the immediate impact of fiber on blood sugar. In this study, researchers had young, healthy women consume a breakfast meal, either eating vegetables first or carbohydrates first. And you can pretty much assume what they're going to find. They found that consuming vegetables, first, significantly lowered blood glucose and insulin levels. This was regardless of how quickly the women ate their meal. So this simple change can make a big difference in managing your post-meal blood-sugar levels Let's talk about another study,

Viscous Fiber, Gut Health, and Appetite Control 5:38

a study done pretty recently in 2024. And in this study they investigated a high fiber diet compared to the standard diet for American females between the ages of 40 to 64. So the 300 participants were classified as being obese and they were randomly divided into two groups. You had one group following a normal American diet, another one following high-fiber diet. This was conducted for eight weeks. All the participants were living in a hospital setting and their diets were prepared by the hospital.

Both groups consumed 1800 calories a day. Those in the high fiber diet group consumed 35 to 70 grams of fiber daily, so quite a high amount. And they consumed the fiber through vegetables and fruits. All participants had their baseline measurements and then twice weekly they had measurements of their weight, their waist circumference and other markers. All participants in both groups walked 12,000 steps per day and had other simple cardio exercises. So here are the interesting results. They were that the high fiber diet group lost a significant amount of weight as compared to the normal diet crew.

It lost about 16 pounds compared about two and a half pounds in that eight week period of time. Also, the High Fiber Group had an average waist circumference loss of 10.3 centimeters as compare to 6.4 centimeters for the Normal Diet Group.

Studies on Fiber, Weight Loss, and Blood Sugar 6:54

Remember, the normal diet group was conducting the exercise every day as they did in both groups. Moreover, body fat mass decreased by 4.1 kilograms for the high fiber diet groups, that's almost close to 10 pounds compared to no change in the normally diet. So these are pretty pronounced results in these two studies that are reviewed. What should you do? Well, I recommend consuming vegetables like salads or other vegetables at the beginning of meals when you can. Now, if it's a certain type of meal where you're not organized for that, you don't have the time, or you do not have that type food with you, then simply take a fiber supplement.

The most well-studied fiber supplements are psyllium, like psyellium seeds and husks, and then another one known as glucomanin, which is taken from the konjac herb. And the common dose for both of these, when you look at the research which I have done, we take 5 grams, so about 10 ounces of water, twice daily. So you can take the fiber-supplement, normally in powder form, before two meals a day. And so one thing you should know, it's important to increase your fiber intake slowly over a few weeks.

Some people they'll have digestive distress, they're not used to getting so much fiber and they could get digestive upset. So just increase it slowly, over couple of weeks and your body will normally adjust to that. having problems you'll just have to cut back to the amount of fiber that you can tolerate.

How to Use Fiber Supplements Safely 8:10

Well there you have it just getting the fiber in your diet. Increasing the number of fibers mainly through vegetables and then secondarily fruits and using fiber supplements you make a pronounced effect both on your weight and your blood sugar levels. I hope you like this and you look for other videos I've made on weight loss and blood regulation.