The last time Antonio May's senior heard from his son, it was in a note, the ...
left in the family's garage. "He told me you've no make me cry."
“Antonio Junior left home to join a protest in Seattle. A week later, he was shot and killed there.”
"I need some a ref me, just as for my son." Listen to "We Keep Us Safe" on the Embedded Podcast from NPR. "You're listening to life kit." "From NPR." "Hey everybody, it's Mario."
"When I say the word fiber, what do you think about?" "Maybe pooping?" "You were probably taught that fiber keeps you regular, and it does do that, but also so much more." "NPR science correspondent Maria Gadoye says fiber is kind of like the Peter Parker of food." "You think it's kind of this nerdy new tramp, but it's actually really secretly a dietary superhero?"
"Yeah, a superhero, because this carbohydrate, which occurs naturally in plants, has a ton of health benefits. It lowers cholesterol, it helps regulate blood sugar levels. It keeps your hunger in check, and it is the primary food source for the trillions of microbes
that live in our guts, and those microbes play really a critical role in so many aspects of good health.
The problem is we often don't get enough fiber in our diet. That's true for an estimated 95% of Americans. So let's change that. On today's episode of LifeKit, Maria and I talk all things
“fiber, how it works in our bodies, the best ways to get it, whether you should take supplements,”
and how to avoid some of the uncomfortable side effects that can come with upping your fiber intake. Of all the protests in the summer of 2020, for a moment there, it was Utopia. One took a unique turn. "Some of you over there say it's in our ears again?" This is the story of how violence came to occupy an anti-violence occupation in Seattle. Listen to We Keep Us Safe, a new true crime series on the Embedded Podcast from NPR.
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The secret family of a fertility doctor. Listen, out to the Sunday story from the Up First Podcast on the NPR app. I feel like for a long time, I just thought fiber was something that was kind of like a room sweeping your digested food through your intestines. It does play that role, right? But it also does others, all this other stuff. Right. There's actually a huge body of research that shows diet time,
fiber, boost, health, and lots of ways. For example, there was this big review of nearly 200 studies and dozens of clinical trials. And it found diets rich in fiber were linked to a lower risk of major health problems like obesity, tattoo diabetes, cancer, cardiovascular disease, even dying
“prematurely from any cause. Do we know why it's so beneficial? Like how it's working in our bodies?”
One of the big things that scientists have learned over the last two decades is that one of the reasons it's so important health is that fiber is the primary food source for those microbes in our
gut. And those microbes we've learned play a critical role in regulating health. Not just in our
guts, but throughout our whole bodies. I mean, they influence health in everything from immunity, really important to immunity, allergies, heart disease, inflammatory bowel disease, even mental health. And scientists are still untangling those mechanisms, but it's pretty clear that they play a critical role. And fiber is the primary food source for these microbes, especially a type of fiber called prebiotic fiber, which is the kind of fiber that these microbes can ferment. Let's linger here
for a second on the gut microbiome because this is so fascinating. Could you explain what the gut microbiome actually is? What is the gut? And when what are these microbes? Okay, so your gut is your gastrointestinal system. You know, so includes your stomach and your small, large intestines, which, you know, the large intestine or colon. And it is home, especially your large intestine, is home to this community
of very diverse trillions, trillions of very diverse microbes. And those microbes play a critical role
In influencing health throughout your body.
fibers. So that's one reason why you want to eat a diversity of fiber in your diet because I like to think of them kind of like a team of builders building a house, right? Like you want to have your gut as the house and so some microbes are like plumbers and some are electricians and some of them are, you know, masonry experts. And so they all need different tools and the fibers are those different tools to build different things. So you don't want to rely on one kind of fiber. You
want to eat lots of different fiber from foods. But what we do know from research is more diverse types of microbes living in your gut equals better health. I feel like a lot of people have heard of taking probiotics, either in a pill or through what they eat, kombucha or kimchi, something like that, yogurt in order to help their gut microbiome. But fiber is the other element here, right? Like fiber is called a prebiotic. Yeah. So both prebiotics and probiotics are great for the
health of your gut microbiome. Probiotics are foods or supplements that contain live microorganisms that have a proven health benefit. So think foods like kombucha or yogurt, prebiotics are the food or fuel for those good microbes in your gut. All known prebiotics are fiber, but not all fibers are prebiotic. So prebiotic fibers are those that gut microbes permit to produce chemical messengers that go throughout your body, but not all fibers are easily fermentable by microbes.
But you know, just because microbes can't break them down doesn't mean that they're not beneficial. For example, cellulose is a type of fiber found in foods like celery and gut microbes don't do a great job of breaking it down. But we have lots of research that shows that cellulose can help
“keep you regular, which I think we can all agree is pretty important. The human body is amazing.”
I know. It's amazing. It really, really is. It's fascinating. And I'll tell you the reason
I got interested in fiber years ago was I thought I was eating super healthy. I was having salads every day and whatnot. And I read an article about the benefits of fiber and I got curious, like, hmm, I wonder how much fiber I eat in a day and I started tracking it and it actually wasn't that much because, you know, so fibers have found in plant-based foods. And I was eating a lot of salads, but the thing is like iceberg lettuce doesn't really have a lot of fiber in it. So I started
sort of targeting high fiber foods in my diet. And so one thing I'll do nowadays is like I'll sprinkle tablespoon of chia seeds on my yogurt and that one tablespoon of chia seeds has four grams of fiber. And I think you'd have to eat like a truckload of iceberg lettuce to even get anywhere near that. Wow. But I know, or a cup of raspberries, a blackberries have egg crams of fiber, which is a lot.
“And those can be expensive. I was going to say maybe that's why they're expensive. Right, but”
but actually you could just buy them frozen, right? And like throw them in a smoothie. And there are a lot cheaper when they're frozen. Okay. The main issue I have with raspberries and blackberries, which also have a lot of fiber, is like they get moldy before I can even look at them.
Oh, yeah. Yeah. No, I eat them up first because if I'm paying like six bucks for a little
pint or whatever, I'm gonna eat it. Yeah. Well, how much, how much fiber should we be getting a day? So the formula is basically 14 grams of fiber for every 1,000 calories you eat. And that translates usually for women, something around 25 grams of fiber and for men, it's something like 38 grams of fiber. But it's in a way it's moved because the vast majority of Americans get nowhere near that. Less than 10% of Americans eat the daily amount of fiber they're supposed to. Most
“the average, I think, is something like 16 grams a day. So that's where like, you know,”
maybe being a little more conscious about what you can help without being obsessive. But really what you want to think about doing is eating the rainbow, which is something you've probably heard
a million times from like registered dietitian say it all the time. And that just means eating a variety
of plant-based foods that are rich in fiber. So like sweet potatoes or avocados, very rich in fiber, asparagus and artichoke, brown rice can help lentils and other beans, navy beans, black beans, et cetera, very high in fiber and not expensive at all. I mean, I eat lentils soup at least half of the week. Do you count your fiber every day or periodically? I do, but that's because I'm a little bit obsessive fiber, but I don't think the average person needs to at all really if you just
sort of trying to eat a variety of plant-based foods, you know, like fruits, vegetables and obviously
Whole grains, legumes, like all of that can just help you get closer to your ...
difference between soluble and insoluble fiber? Because I feel like those terms are a little confusing,
“and I'm not sure whether I need to be keeping track. No, it was really, thank you do for the average”
person who's got a million things going on and isn't kind of a fanatic like I am. I don't think so.
It's really easy to get really in the weeds pretty fast when it comes to fiber, but basically soluble fiber means it can dissolve in water, soluble fibers bind with water and kind of turn into this gelite consistency that slows digestion and that can be helpful can lower glucose levels and blood cholesterol levels. Again, like chia seed, dope brand lentils, nuts and seeds, apples and pairs have soluble fiber. Insoluble fiber means it doesn't dissolve in water and that's helpful
because it can help food move through your digestive system and add bulk tier stool and help keep you regular and prevent constipation. So you can think of foods like quinoa or brown rice, kale, walnuts, that falls into that category and the thing that's important to remember is that different kinds of plant foods have different kinds of fiber in them and they're all important to health in different
“ways. So again, that's why you want to eat the rainbow, you know, eat lots of different fruits and”
vegetables and whole grains, nuts and seeds and beans, just to make sure you're getting, you know, a variety of fibers in your diet. Right. So is it ever a good idea to get fiber from a supplement or a pill? Very good question. Every researcher I've spoken to told me your best bet is to get fiber
from a variety of plant-based foods. La la la la. I've said it in a million times now. But that's
really for a couple of reasons. One is, you know, when you eat fiber rich berries or sweet potatoes, you're also getting all the vitamins and minerals and phytonutrans in those foods. So not just the fiber so they're good for you in multiple ways. But another reason is the fiber used in supplements. It's been highly purified to simpler structure than the fiber that sort of bound up and complex structures naturally inside of plant foods. And so these simpler fibers tend to get fermented faster
by gut microbes. But that means they might not travel all the way down the full length of your large intestine and feed the microbes there too. So basically they might not reach all the microbes that need it throughout your gut. That said, if you don't get enough fiber supplements are probably helpful, they just don't seem to be as helpful as getting your fiber through plant-based foods. Yeah, I noticed too that, like, I was taking fiber supplements for a while and then once I realized
how much fiber we need a day, I looked at the label and it was like, I did take five capsules to get two grams of fiber. I was like, this is wild. Like, what is even in these? It was like, care mostly caramel coloring. My advice is like eat a bowl of black bean soup. Right? Until safe, right? It's going to be tasteier, hopefully. Okay, so if you're someone who does not eat a lot of fiber right now, where do you start? Because if you if you start really abruptly
and like crank it up, you could get gas and bloating and just like gastrointestinal distress, right?
“Right. Right. And I think that's a really important point. Like, if you don't eat a lot of fiber,”
I would definitely say the keys to start slowly, just be very gradual about increasing your fiber
intake. So, for instance, if you like to eat white bread, maybe, you know, the first week
you're trying to increase your intake, switch out one serving with whole grain bread in the second, you know, second week, do two servings until you've done all your servings of whole grain instead of white bread. The other thing is drink lots of water because this can help the fiber bite. It prevents it from hardening and try cooking vegetables or eating fruits without the skins or seeds that, you know, can help make foods a little less likely to cause gas. One thing you might want to do is
if you're eating more foods with fiber and noticing gas, maybe take note of which foods cause symptoms. You might want to adjust your diet. If you're particularly sensitive to something, like, for instance, when I've said I'm a fiber fanatic, but I've realized I got to moderate my chia seed intake. Like, one tablespoon with my yogurt is fine, two tablespoons and I'm in trouble later. That's just me personally, you know, totally. Yeah, and the other thing, you know, I find that
taking a walk after meals can also be helpful with gas and bloating discomfort. And so, yeah, just moving a little bit afterward and it can help with digestion and help release some of that gas. All right. Well, I am, I'm like kind of pumped now to go eat fiber all day. Yay. Yay. But like, do it in moderation. All right. Well, thank you so much. This has been great. It has been my pleasure
As your official MPR fiber fanatic.
It helps us grow the show. And we'd love to know what you think. Here's a review that I liked
“from listener F. Walter, 819. Having learned many of these lessons the hard way, I recommend”
life kit instead. And for all the lessons they cover that I never learned, thanks. Better late than never.
Too true, F. Walter. Leave us a review in your podcast app right now. This episode of
“Life Kit was produced by Claire Marie Schneider and edited by Sylvie Douglas. Malka Greb is our”
digital editor and our visuals editor is CJ Recon. Megan Kane is our senior supervising editor
and Lauren Gonzalez is our executive producer. Our production team also includes Andy Tagle and Margaret
“Serino. Engineering support comes from Jimmy Keely and Sinal of Frateau. I'm Mary Alsegata. Thanks for listening.”
This season of Planet Money Summer School we go to China, one of the world's biggest economy.
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