Fiber Menace

Fiber has zero nutritional value. It contains no vitamins, minerals, or microelements, and it's indigestible to boot. All of fiber's make-believe health benefits are related to five of its prominent qualities: "water absorbency," "bulk," "roughage," "fermentation," and "laxative" effect. All five are behind fiber's primary goal in human nutrition: the prevention and treatment of constipation. In reality, here is what actually takes place:

Water absorbency causes fiber to expand. While the whole point and purpose of chewing and digestion is to reduce food particles to the barest minimum and liquefy them for easy passage through the digestive tract, fiber does the complete opposite-it balloons four to five times its original size and weight, and congregates into large lumps. Can that be any good for you? Well, it's just as good as swallowing food without chewing.

Bulk means that fiber makes stools large and heavy. How heavy? About four to five times as heavy, or as much as the amount of water it can absorb and retain. Can that be any good for you? It's just about as good as swallowing apples whole. Large objects tend to get stuck inside passageways, be it an apple inside the mouth, or bulky stools inside the colon. That's why so many children and adults suffer from chronic constipation.

Roughage means that fiber makes stools rough. Rough enough to cause diverticular and hemorrhoidal diseases, anal tears, and crimson blood streaks on passing stools. So rough, in fact, that many toddlers fed high-fiber diets refuse to move their bowels because of pain, and eventually have to be "manually disimpacted" (meaning the impacted stools must be removed by hand, under anesthesia, by a surgeon or specially-trained nurse).

Excessive fermentation causes pain and suffering. Gases and acid are the byproducts of fiber's bacterial fermentation, which causes bloating, flatulence, and abdominal pain, and are the "driving forces" behind IBS, diverticular disease, ulcerative colitis, and Crohn's disease. That's why doctors prescribe antibiotics to wipe out bacteria. Unfortunately, once the bacteria are gone, constipation becomes even worse, and doctors recommend even more fiber.

The laxative effect is particular to soluble fiber, also known as "mucilage." It's based on the fact that once inside the intestines, soluble fiber blocks water absorption (along with essential nutrients, vitamins, and minerals, of course), and this causes diarrhea. Of course, consuming foods that have laxative effects can't be good for either irritable bowel syndrome or colitis, because diarrhea is one of its main outcomes.

If you still doubt that dietary fiber is a menace, just note the following description of the side effects associated with fiber laxatives, which are, of course, 100% pure, unadulterated fiber:

"Bloating, gas, and a feeling of fullness may occur. If these effects continue or become bothersome, inform your doctor. Notify your doctor if you experience: stomach cramps, nausea, vomiting, rectal bleeding, unrelieved constipation."

The more fiber you consume either with food or laxatives, the more severe its impact, and the older you are, the more obvious and menacing these side effects. It's even worse for toddlers whose digestive organs are much more vulnerable than adults' because of their tiny size. That's why this book is called Fiber Menace.

At the end of the day, the damage from fiber adds up to unfortunate medical statistics: indigestion, heartburn (GERD), gastritis, ulcers, hernias, gallstones, constipation, hemorrhoids, irritable bowel syndrome, diverticular disease, precancerous polyps, chronic diarrhea, ulcerative colitis, and Crohn's disease. Ironically, fiber is recommended to treat and prevent all of these disorders with a predictable outcome: they get worse, and some transform into deadly cancers.

It's best to read Fiber Menace while you digestive organs are still intact. By the time you'll hear from medical establishment that fiber is a menace, it may be too late to prevent and reverse the damage. It's never too late, though, to stop the on-going carnage.