Most people only get about 15 grams of fiber in an entire day, when the reality is we need to be getting anywhere from at least 25-35 grams of fiber in our diet.  Fiber intake is something you may want to consider paying more attention to, and here’s why.

The Archives of Internal medicine published a study that looked at the benefits of unprocessed whole grains and fiber.  The study showed that people who consume enough fiber were about 22% less likely to die from any cause during the study than those who consumed only a little bit of fiber.

The patients who consumed the proper amount of fiber also saw benefits relating to heart disease, pulmonary infection and infectious diseases.  Although in this case it is hard to really know for sure what the mechanism is, as it could be from the whole grain or from something else.

Either way, this study is extremely hopeful because it shows there really is something natural out there that can help people, besides for vitamins, and it really comes down to people making the healthy choices themselves.

Some people resort to taking a supplement because the changes they have to make in their regular diet are so much larger than what they’re used to. But there doesn’t appear to be a downside here; that’s the encouraging thing. There is no downside to getting more fiber in your diet.  Perhaps increase in the frequency of stools, but for most people that’s not a bad thing.