The extraordinarily low rates of chronic disease among plant-based populations have been attributed to fiber, but reductionist thinking may lead us astray.
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My video Solving a Colon Cancer Mystery (http://nutritionfacts.org/video/solving-a-colon-cancer-mystery/) is a perfect example of the concept I presented above. If fiber was really the key, then sub-Saharan Africa would be rife with colorectal cancer these days.
For an extreme example, how about disease reversal with diet centered around white rice? See Kempner Rice Diet: Whipping Us Into Shape (http://nutritionfacts.org/video/Kempner-Rice-Diet-Whipping-Us-Into-Shape) and Drugs and the Demise of the Rice Diet (http://nutritionfacts.org/video/Drugs-and-the-Demise-of-the-Rice-Diet.
Wait a second, though, didn’t I just have a video saying you should specifically look for fiber? The Five to One Fiber Rule (http://nutritionfacts.org/video/the-five-to-one-fiber-rule) is just a way to identify less processed foods using fiber as a marker of whole foods.
For more intrigue in the world of fiber, check out Does Fiber Really Prevent Diverticulosis? (http://nutritionfacts.org/video/does-fiber-really-prevent-diverticulosis/)
And if you’re thinking “Dr. Who?” then, for a historical perspective: Dr. Burkitt’s F-word Diet (http://nutritionfacts.org/video/dr-burkitts-f-word-diet/)
Have a question for Dr. Greger about this video? Leave it in the comment section at http://nutritionfacts.org/video/is-the-fiber-theory-wrong and he’ll try to answer it!
Image Credit: Eric Allix Rogers and rick via Flickr, and Elizabeth Magner.
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