Glad to see you again for this new video on
a subject on which you ask me a lot of questions, that is to say fibers. Welcome to the Jean-Michel Cohen channel,
the channel where we only talk about nutrition and where we never tell you about salads. Do your free slimming analysis by going to
the doctor.point Jean-Michel Cohen.fr website. You ask lots of questions all the time: "I'm
constipated, I have bloating, I'm gassy, where do you find fiber? What is fiber?" My job will be to answer all that and explain
it to you. And we start with the first explanation: what
exactly are fibres? There are two types of definition. The first definition, it is totally imbitable,
that is to say if I tell you: "It is a carbohydrate polymer with which other components such as
lignin are associated", presto, you will get the video, of course .
For what ? In simpler
terms, it means that in fact, it is a sum of carbohydrates that are associated with
other products that are generally found in a plant. I prefer, for understanding, the old explanation
at the beginning of the 20th century. A guy who said: "Fiber is actually the indigestible
part of plants, either from the wall or from the heart of the wall". It's still more fun to understand than the
carbohydrate polymer, blah blah blah, blah. But you know, it's always been that way, scientists,
they love to drown the public in names and explanations that no one can understand. It may make them smarter, in any case, we
believe. How does fiber work in our body? Well, the particularity of fibers is that
they will not be digested by the small intestine, or even by any other part of the intestine. Even if in the other part of the intestine,
there is little absorption to pass the products from consumption to the blood. So you remember that the fibers will not be
digested. Within the fibres, you will distinguish two
types: the fibers which are called soluble and the fibers which are called insoluble.
The fibers that we call soluble, they will
drown in water. That means they will form like a kind of viscous
paste, a kind of gelatin, like a kind of sponge. That's why I insist a lot, most of the time,
in the advice I give you on Knowing How to Lose Weight, on the interest of fibers, soluble
fibers. Because soluble fiber is like a soft sponge. It swells, it's going to form this sort of
viscous jelly paste and it's going to circulate gently and slide into the intestine. Conversely, insoluble fiber means that it
is not digested at all and that it does not make this viscous paste. That is to say, it will pass from its departure
until the expulsion in the initial form. What is the downside of this insoluble fiber? Admittedly, it is like a grating press.
It means that it is very effective in cleaning
the surface of the intestine that needs it. It also renews itself regularly. On the other hand, it is a little harder for
our intestine, it must be recognized. So this separation is between soluble fiber
and insoluble fiber. We will find soluble fibers in certain cereals,
in particular oats, rye, buckwheat and barley. It is also found in vegetables, in soluble
form, that is to say soft for our intestine, in certain vegetables such as carrots, zucchini,
asparagus, potatoes and squash.
It is also found in certain fruits, such as
oranges, grapefruit, peaches, apples, plums, especially prunes. Personally, I love apples. Insoluble fiber, on the other hand, is found
in the same food categories, but not necessarily in the same foods, and sometimes they are
mixed together. They can be found in whole grains, from the
moment a cereal is complete, you are almost certain to find insoluble fiber inside, therefore
a little more difficult for our intestines to digest. For example, whole wheat, wheat bran, whole
rice, bulgur, in short, everything that is a bit whole, including the products you buy
in supermarkets.
It is found in vegetables, especially in Brussels
sprouts, spinach, peas. It is also found in certain fruits, such as
rhubarb, apples provided that the skin has been kept, in pears, dates and almonds. See that there, the distinction is not that
strong, because you can find it in a lot of foods. In a mixed way, soluble and insoluble. We will find it in particular in legumes. That explains a number of drawbacks. That is to say beans, beans, chickpeas or
lentils. And then we can find it in two products that
we call "superfoods" at the moment: it's flax seeds and chia seeds. And that is one of the explanations why you
are told that these have become "super" foods, precisely because their fiber content was
exceptionally high. I continue with two other foods that are interesting:
avocado, very fashionable, 7 g of fiber per 100 g. So it's an interesting product, super calorie
all the same, since I explained to you that 100 g of avocado is 200 calories and that
an avocado on average is 200 g, therefore 400 calories, but it is still an interesting
product.
That's why it's still worth consuming avocados
regularly during the week. And then last food I would like to dwell on,
but it's not necessarily the season, it's raspberries, it's 8 g per 100 g, or 12 per
150 g. It's not bad either. Those that also have the most fiber are legumes,
beans and lentils in particular, and we find levels of 6 to 9.5 gc, and that for just one
cup which will make 80 g in cooked weight, you have 8 grams of fiber, hence the interest
of legumes. Where we are not going to find it, it will
be in almost all proteins, meat, fish, poultry, shellfish, eggs, cheese, cottage cheese, so
there will be no fibers inside. Obviously you remember every time I tell you
if you take a fruit juice, try to take it with the pulp, it's because when you take
a fruit juice without the pulp, there will be zero fiber, when you take it with the pulp,
well, there will be the fibers of the fruits that I told you about earlier.
Why is it worth consuming fiber? Well can you imagine that in the days of our
ancestors, I wanted to say the ancestors, but that's not quite it, fiber consumption,
it was around 35 to 40 g per day, Of course, they didn't have as many processed foods as
we have today. It has gradually fallen over the years to
14 to 15 g and we insist a lot on reaching an intermediate quantity, that is to say a
minimum of 20 to 25 g.
This explains in particular why we ask you
to eat fruits and vegetables, because it is in these foods that you find the fibers. In a few moments, I will explain to you why
it is good for your health. Since it is in these foods that we find fiber,
not just fiber, well, we need to eat fruits and vegetables. So, on average, we're going to find, come
on, it's between two and three percent of a plant product in which we're going to find
fibre, apart from a few exceptions that I'm going to give you later, but in average, we
will find 2 to 3%.
So that means that to have 35 g or 30 g, you
would have to eat a lot, that is to say almost a kilo. However, current recommendations are to have
400 g of fruit and vegetables per day. Because we consider that if we already arrive
at a quantity of the order of 12 to 15 g, and if we add, for example, wholemeal bread
or other products such as lentils or legumes, we can arrive at these 20-25 g which serve
to protect us. But protect us from what? In addition to everything I have told you,
there is one thing I would like to emphasize: it is the intestinal microbiota.
You know the importance of the microbiota. That is to say that today we are in the process
of linking a certain number of aspects concerning diseases to the microbiota. We wonder if changes to the microbiota would
not improve a whole host of diseases. I'm not going to quote them to you because
I've already made videos on them, but it could be Parkinson's, autoimmune diseases, diabetes,
obesity, etc. And why does it improve the microbiota? This is because the fibers, when they are
inside the intestine, they will putrefy. It means that there will be a drafting of
these fibers, they will ferment, this is what you have when you have gas or bloating. And so, but it still feeds the microbiota,
so it's extremely important. So it's mandatory to have fiber, I would like
you to remember it, it's fundamental. In fact, the fibers have several interests. First, they reduce the absorption of cholesterol
and sugar.
This means that when you have a high fiber
consumption, you limit the possibility of developing cholesterol in the blood and you
limit the possibility of developing diabetes. For what ? Because the fibers are in a way
sensors, they are sponges, I used this word earlier, they will capture and they will absorb
part of the fats and part of the sugar that we have in the 'feed. The fibers are also interesting for transit,
because the fibers absorb, in a way, water and therefore will create a kind of ballast
that we call ballast. That is to say a viscous or non-viscous paste,
as I explained to you earlier, which will circulate throughout the intestine. And so, it ensures quality transit and avoids
constipation, of course provided you drink enough, since the fiber to swell, it needs
water. The third thing is that insoluble fiber, what
use is it to us? I spoke to you earlier about the renewal of
cells inside the intestine and well, that makes it possible to avoid developing colon
cancer.
For what ? Because when the cancerous cell
grows, if the grater passes and eliminates it, there is less chance of developing cancer. Finally, for all lovers of diets, food rebalancing
for hypocrites, it is a way to ensure satiety. When you have a large volume to digest, it
actually fills you up and you feel less hungry. That's why we use and have used for a long
time stomach bulking powders, konjac, which is a product that has a bit of that kind of
utility in trying to increase satiety. The problem is that satiety is not necessarily
appetite. There are many people who have a stomach ache,
especially after their sixties, and when we do a colonoscopy on them, we discover that
there is diverticulosis. That means the gut has folded up. It's like a kind of very light little yarrow
and, in fact, this little yarrow from time to time it gets irritated, inflamed and it
hurts extremely.
You are taken out during the colonoscopy,
you have diverticulosis, the most common, it is essentially the fact of not having consumed
enough fiber. So how do you eat them? So it will depend a little bit on your eating
habits. In principle, you are supposed to eat fruits
and vegetables minimum 400 g per day. If you only eat 400g, I think you are forced
to use whole foods. That is to say, try to promote wholemeal crackers,
wholemeal bread, wholemeal flours. I think you are forced to consume legumes. That means that from time to time during the
week, you have to make a dish of beans, a dish of lentils, chickpeas, beans for some.
So all of that is part of the foods you need
to eat in a week to get enough fiber. And for superfood lovers, have fun taking
flax seeds, chia seeds and avocados from time to time. The typical example of
the meals that should be favored? I don't know, it's an artichoke, then make
a little couscous with semolina and add chickpeas inside. Finish with a small piece of cheese, the company
of a piece of wholemeal bread and take a fruit and preferably in the fruits that I mentioned
to you earlier, apples, it is perhaps the easiest .
And there, you will have a sufficient
rate of fibers. It will allow you
to avoid several things: constipation, certain diseases by feeding the microbiota, limiting
the ability to develop cholesterol or diabetes. In short, you wear better and have a normal
transit. So be careful, those who are bloated, those
who have abdominal pain, we mainly favor soluble fibers. For what ? Because they are sweet. And you remember the saying: “one fruit
a day keeps the doctor away”. That was it, that is to say that already at
the time, they had understood the important role of fibers. Here is what you should know among all the
things you should know in our profession. And I'm happy to teach them to you. If you liked this video, you like it, you
share it, you subscribe, you make me video suggestions. And of course, I say see you soon my friends
!..
