Could You Spare a Few Minutes To Talk about...Fiber?

This is so funny. The over-the-counter medicine companies want to sell us various forms of fiber - pills, powder, fibrous food products. They are as appealing as burlap. 

What we need the most is also what we shun, so we can eat food that spikes our blood sugar. The non-fiber foods leave us craving for more high glycemic foods, like Jello, popcorn, corn, white bread, snack foods, white rice, breakfast cereal, white bread, and a rainbow of candies and desserts. Salt and sweeteners are added to make the flavorless and cheap foods more appealing.

Fruit Fiber - The Dessert with a Peel

Slowly I realized that all those delicious fresh fruits are sweet but bind up their sugar in fiber - the difference between apples and apple pie, the latter begging for whipped cream or ice cream, yea even cheese (a Midwest delicacy).

Sceptics and grouches may name a few sugary fruit, like grapes, but how many people gain 100 pounds from binge eating grapes? Few, I am sure. 

My main fruit is raw apples, several a day, but I also love ripe pears. Blueberries seem very sweet but are not sugar bombs. Besides, they are heart medicine. Whole pineapples recently sold for $2.50 each. All it takes is a serrated knife to slice them horizontally, then eat everything except the triceratops skin. I was recently introduced to papaya, which also balances sweet juiciness with fiber, plus other benefits.

If fruit is past its prime, I share it with birds and squirrels. Lately birds have been flying down to my feet and looking up at me.

 “Blessed are you, Lord God, maker of all living creatures. You called forth fish in the sea, birds in the air and animals on the land. You inspired Saint Francis to call all of them his brothers and sisters. We ask you to bless these animals. By the power of your love, enable them to live according to your plan. May we always praise you for all your beauty in Creation. Blessed are you, Lord our God, in all your creatures! In Jesus' Name. Amen.”

Raw Vegetable Fiber 

The vegetables I eat are raw, most of them frozen and simply warmed up from the freezer or de-canned and warmed (chickpeas, lima beans, tomato paste and sauce).

This combination of beans and vegetables is the key to protein, a wealth of nutrition, and long-term satisfaction. I had to give up bread to continue the downward weight trend, and I found bread a trigger for craving and a gateway drug for butter, jelly, and peanut butter. I am at 192 pounds, the lowest weight since I was awakened to nutrition.

Leafy Greens

I was avoiding leafy greens because I do not like salad dressing, never did. I tried using chopped frozen greens, but that did not help. 

Raw leafy greens fill the stomach but not the calorie counter, and they are astonishingly nutritious for their weight, plus some added benefits. Spinach is a super-food in the leafy green category, and I love it, so I eat one or two bowls of spinach every day. Yes, I know the joke, without dressing, or Honeymoon Salad, lettuce alone.

Craving Is for Real, Man

Craving food, usually the wrong food, is the great fear of those wanting to change their habits. Diets, which are disasters parallel to fiber pills and powder, generate overpowering cravings for candy, desserts, and snacks. So I have heard. 

If we always eat what we have always eaten, we will always get fatter because we always age. We have to give up groups of useless food and address craving with good food - 

1. raw fruit - fiber!
2. mostly raw vegetables - fiber! 
3. leafy greens - fiber!, 
4. nuts and seeds. 

I dropped ice cream and colas first, slowed down cookies, and finally stopped buying bread. This gave me a blood sugar drop (A1C) to normal, blood pressure near normal, and weight loss of 32 pounds. Yes, I still eat meat every week.

I now answer craving with two helpings of fruit or eating one or two bowls of spinach. Yes, that works very well and the craving for all the Melo-Cream delights disappear.

Eat To Live, by Dr. Joel Fuhrman was no help to me - for years! That is because I never read it. I found a brand new, forgotten and unread copy in my own library and read it. I bought copies for others, and read it again.

I also get good advice from members and friends.