Fiber, Menopause, and Chronic Disease
Fiber is essential to a healthy diet, often underutilized to improve menopause and chronic disease symptoms. It helps slow digestion for better nutrient absorption, necessary for healing and reducing inflammation, stabilizes blood sugar, decreases cholesterol in the bloodstream, vital for heart health, and is associated with a decrease in chronic disease. Fiber also allows us to feel fuller longer and contributes to maintaining a healthy weight. Fiber is one of the reasons why cutting carbohydrates can have negative health consequences.
Before we get into the details about why fiber can do all these great things for our bodies, let’s discuss in more detail what fiber is. Fiber is the part of carbohydrates that our bodies lack enzymes to break down. Fiber is the edible part of a plant that is resistant to digestion. Soluble fiber ferments within the lower part of the digestive tract, providing food for colon bacteria. Insoluble fiber passes through the digestive tract altogether through bowel movements.
Soluble fiber includes carrots, broccoli, onion, artichokes, oats, berries, apples, pears, legumes, and barley. These foods slow digestion, more easily help to form a fermented gel for bacteria to feed, absorb water, and delay the transit time of our food through the entirety of the digestive tract. Insoluble fiber includes wheat, bran, nuts, seeds, and some fruits and vegetables. Insoluble fiber bulks our stool, decreases the transit time our food takes to move throughout the entirety of the digestive tract, and helps to relieve constipation.
Both types of fiber are indigestible, but it is soluble fiber that helps to decrease cholesterol. When bacteria breaks soluble fiber down through fermentation, it is broken down into short-chain fatty acids, which are then used for energy by our cells. Short-chain fatty acids helps to reduce the liver absorption of cholesterol, which decreases the cholesterol floating in the blood system and increases sodium and water absorption in the colon. This absorption is critical for the hydration of our cells and the proper use of our muscles and muscle growth. Soluble fiber is also considered a prebiotic to help our colon bacteria stay healthy and function properly.
During menopause, cholesterol increases without dietary changes because the body makes hormones from cholesterol. Because estrogen is protective of our cardiovascular system, the risk of cardiovascular disease, including heart attacks and strokes, increases during and post-menopause. As estrogen declines, the risk for cardiovascular disease increases. Making lifestyle and nutrition changes to reduce cholesterol and improve cardiovascular function is vital in protecting our hearts. Adding more fiber to our diet has been shown to help balance those changes as estrogen decreases in post-menopausal women.
Fiber intake has been found to have an inverse relationship to depression prior to menopause. This means getting adequate fiber daily may decrease symptoms of depression during this time of your life. This is a particularly important factor as mood swings, and depression are symptoms related to declining hormone function during premenopause.
One study of nearly 6,000 women in Korea saw a relationship between fiber intake and depression. This could be due to the gut-brain axis connection, but studies on midlife women’s health are severely lacking. Interestingly, this association was not found in postmenopausal women and fiber intake, only in premenopause.
We know that fiber feeds our digestive bacteria to create a hospitable internal environment that keeps our health functioning properly. Studies suggest gut microbiota may communicate to the Central Nervous system, influencing brain function and behavior. Studies also indicate that when colon bacteria do not have enough soluble fiber to turn into short-chain fatty acids, the lining of the digestive tract becomes eroded, and inflammation in the body increases. This is what is called leaky gut. The digestive tract comprises of closely intertwined mucosal cells that move nutrients across its border into either the bloodstream or the lymphatic system. While once a fringe theory in clinical nutrition, leaky gut is being studied more thoroughly as chronic disease increases.
When working with clients, I always suggest we start with fiber intake first. It is estimated that the majority of Americans consume less than half of the recommended fiber intake. This is usually a good place to start when making sustainable dietary changes, as fiber impact is so widespread in our bodies. The first step is to measure how much fiber you get daily. Do this without changing your diet for 1 -2 weeks. This gives you plenty of time to see how your diet ebbs and flows over a period of time.
Once you are ready to make some changes to your fiber intake, here are three ways to add more fiber:
Eat Grains. Try new to you grains. Farro, millet, and barley are great grains, and they are great ways to shake up your regular meals. I personally love Farro, both hot and cold. During the summer, I’ll add Farrow to a Greek salad. Substitute different grains to your regular meals to make adding fiber more sustainable. Use this as an experiment to try new grains that are not already part of your regular meals.
Make half your plate vegetables. It is estimated that 90% of Americans don’t eat enough vegetables. Vegetables like carrots, cauliflower, and Brussels sprouts are high in fiber and can be eaten raw or cold when it feels too much to turn the oven on.
Add nuts and seeds to your meals. Top any meal with seeds or nuts for extra fiber. I regularly use hemp seeds, chia seeds, and almonds as a snack or meal toppers. Sometimes, this will add texture, which can make your meal more satisfying, but other times, you might not notice it at all.
Next week, I will share some ways to make your meals and snacks more fiber and carbohydrate friendly. But I want to end this article with some questions.
Are you scared to eat more carbohydrates because you think you will gain weight?
Do you purposively avoid fruits, vegetables, and grains because you think they will cause you to gain weight?
Are you experiencing symptoms of perimenopause or chronic disease while also restricting what you will eat for fear of gaining weight?
Do you weigh yourself regularly as a way to change how you eat?
If you said yes to any or all of these questions, I ask that this week, you think through what avoiding carbs or restricting foods in your diet is doing to your health. Ask yourself why you are so scared of gaining weight. I always like to say ask “why” like a toddler. Just keep asking yourself “why” again and again and again until you get to the real reason why losing weight is more important than your current and future health.
Then ask yourself: what can being healthy in your elderly years do for you and your family?
For some perspective about what obesity could look like, I lift weights 3 times a week, walk 6 miles once a week, and get about 18-20k steps a day. I am very strong with defined muscles. After a few drinks, I am definitely flexing for you and showing them off. I am considered very close to obese because of my height and weight. Most of us think being considered overweight is bad without looking at anything else related to our health. Even those who hold more fat than others may not be more unhealthy than those who are thin.
The bottom line is when it comes to getting older, being strong is better than being thin. Eating more helps you gain and maintain muscle. It becomes increasingly difficult to maintain muscle mass over 40. If you eat like a bird, you will not gain or maintain the muscle you need to be healthy later in life. Not to mention the cognitive issue that eating too little creates. I am repeating myself because I see so many women over 40 who are struggling with their body image, thinking restricting what and how much they eat will make them love themselves. I hope we can move forward on this issue as we age. Maybe even love what our aging bodies look like to help each other see the beauty we see in each other.