DAILY FOOD RECOMMENDATIONS: Fiber vs. Protein, How Important Is Protein? Why Eat Fiber! FIBER, FIBER, FIBER!

DAILY 

RECOMMENDATIONS:

 

Fiber:

~Women about 25g x day and Men about 38 g x day

Sugar:

~Less than 50g per day or less than 10% of calories

Protein:

~Weight x 0.36= me: 43g, 140 weight= 53g

Carbohydrates:

~45% to 65% of calories (140g-250g averages)

Good Fats:

~20%-35% of daily calories

Sodium:

~less than 1,800mg x day (American cardiologist)

Saturated fats/trans fats:

~Less than 5-6% of calories to none (American heart association)

 Did you know that 93% of Americans Do Not meet the minimum recommended fiber intake?! That means only 3% of Americans are getting enough fiber (1). I think we can agree that there has been a great focus on protein as being the most important macro to get for our bodies growth, strength, and performance. Although protein is a big component of our health, I will argue (along with the many) that Fiber is an even more important focus and I'll tell you why. Protein is actually very difficult to be deficient in, most Americans are getting Too much  protein. Too much protein can actually harm your body. 

"Extra protein is not used efficiently by the body and may impose a metabolic burden on the bones, kidneys, and liver. Moreover, high-protein/high-meat diets may also be associated with increased risk for coronary heart disease due to intakes of saturated fat and cholesterol or even cancer" (3)

  Where does protein come from? Protein is in all plants, and actually, comes from only plants. The only reason animals contain protein in their tissues is because they get it from plants! So firstly, why not get it straight from the source without all the added toxins, saturated fat, heavy metals, and dangers of meat products? Usually, the most likely way to get a protein deficiency is by not consuming enough calories. If you are consuming enough calories, you would get enough protein by just eating brown rice and broccoli! So, protein is not the issue here, it is Fiber! Fiber is being studied more and more but what we do know now is that fiber is Critical  for our gut health and microbiome! The fiber feeds the good bugs in our gut and allow them to carry out their critical functions. The microbiome is involved in many important functions of our body and is even referred to as our "2nd brain".99.% of our genetic code comes from microbe (bacteria) and is not even human code! (2) Below are some of the Many functions: 

 

MICROBIOME CONTROLS:

• Hormones
• Digestion of foods
• Metabolism
• Immune system 70%
• Mood
• Brain health/cognition
• Expression of genetic code- can turn them on and off- who’s doing it? theory is gut microbes

So If we want to live happy, healthy lives, we must cater to our microbiome, which means feeding its LOTS of Fiber!!! Fiber not only feeds our good gut bugs, but it also attaches to toxins and waste and pulls it out of our bodies to exit. Fiber is what give us healthy bowels which is also critical. Constipation is so common with how unhealthy our "Standard American Diet" is that I don't think people realized how damaging it is to our bodies. Think about it....Fiber carries out waste, toxins, dead/harmful cells/bacteria, imagine all of that toxic waste just sitting in your colon continuing to be absorbed by your body. I definitely don't want that, get that ish out! 😁 So to have healthy bowel movements, you Must Have Fiber! So eat those plants, feed those good gut bugs, heal those bowels, and live life nourished!

 

 

 Research:

1) https://nutritionfacts.org/2015/09/29/where-do-you-get-your-fiber/ 

2) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3779803/

3) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4045293/