Even the author of the Harvard study, Charles Fuchs, M.D., says that most of us should be eating twice as much fiber as we now consume. Most people should shoot for at least 25 grams of fiber. That means packing your diet with fiber-rich foods. A bowl of vegetarian chili at lunch could add to your daily total, with one cup of kidney beans providing more than 7 grams of fiber. The reward for such efforts is a shield against heart disease, showed research published in the September 1999 issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
Men get the same protection.
How fiber works its magic still isn't clear, but scientists suspect that it coaxes the body to take more cholesterol out of the blood, preventing it from forming plaques in the arteries and causing heart disease. Fiber also blocks the body from absorbing fat and cholesterol from food. In the April 1997 issue of the Journal of Nutrition, researchers reported that the more fiber volunteers ate, the more fat ended up in their stools. Flushing Out the Pounds Not only does fiber prevent absorption of fat, but it also helps you to feel satiated faster. And fewer calories mean that eating fiber helps to maintain a healthy weight.