Healthy weight loss through the high fiber diet

Copyright 2006 Adam Waxler

While the most popular weight loss diets today are the so-called fad-diets, the more traditional high fiber diet does still have a good following. The high fiber weight loss diet is an easier to follow weight loss system than the more extreme fad diets such as the Atkins diet or South Beach diet. More importantly than that, many dieticians and nutritional consultants favor high fiber diets as they are generally considered to be a safer option that can have a positive effect on health in addition to weight loss.

There are two different kinds of fiber, soluble and insoluble fiber. Soluble fiber is found in many foods such as fruits, vegetables, and beans. Soluble fiber is thought to help in keeping cholesterol down and to reduce the risk of heart disease, according to some dieticians.

Insoluble fiber is usually found in whole meal foods such as flour, grains, rice and pasta. Insoluble fiber is thought to help with the passage of the food through the digestive tract and therefore promote good digestive health.

High fiber weight loss diets generally rely on a combination of increased fiber in the diet, through more consumption of foods such as whole grains and cereals, while at the same time also restricting the amount of calories in the diet. This approach allows the dieter to promote weight loss by eating less calories, while at the same time, eating normal amounts of food. This is an important aspect of this weight loss plan as the dieter will not get hunger pains and therefore, not be tempted to eat