Fiber supports weight loss

Dawn (00:00):

Hello and welcome to the Gastric Health Show , my name is Dawn Boxell, and this week we are back to discuss a new topic with fiber support weight loss. So, three ways fiber supports weight loss is what we are going to discuss. And first off, you know, fiber is really just a component of the plant that we as humans cannot fully digest. But how can fiber support weight loss? And I’m going to dig into this and show you one you know, fiber offers us many health benefits, and in all honesty, I’m convinced if you truly understood how beneficial fiber was, you would definitely be more intentional about prioritizing it, especially after bariatric surgery when your pouch is so tight. So, but most of you are aware that the benefits of fiber in providing fullness and satiety.

Dawn (01:11):

So we know that that benefit alone is super helpful for weight loss because if you get full you’re not likely to be snacking on things that maybe aren’t helpful. So that we know. But I wanna dig in a little bit deeper than just fullness and satiety. I want to dig into some studies and kind of show you some of the differences of just kind of a different angle to look at how it can support weight loss. What we know is that there are very few studies showing that fiber alone can influence weight loss. So just focusing on fiber and expecting you to drop, you know, pounds and pounds. There hasn’t been the evidence for that to date, but they do show benefits in how it does help in different ways. And when combined with things. So give me a minute and we’ll get there.

Dawn (02:17):

Because I want you to see that even if, you know, just fiber alone isn’t going to move the dial, if you, if you learn how to pair it and combine it with other things you may find that it does help you and help support your weight loss goals. To date The only studies that have shown fiber to support weight loss has been when it is in combination with probiotics.

Foods and different types of fibers

Dawn (02:57):

So when you take a probiotic supplement and then make sure that you’re consuming adequate fiber that has been shown to influence. And support weight loss because we do know that modulating your gut bacteria can influence weight loss. So can, that’s where we’re, we’re heading. We’re, I’m, I’m taking you down that path of not just taking a probiotic, although I do believe in that, and I do think it’s an important piece before and after weight loss surgery.

Dawn (03:23):

It doesn’t matter which surgery you have or what type of surgery you have. I truly believe all patients who are seeking bariatric surgery should be consuming a probiotic prior to even having surgery. And then after surgery, that should continue and be more intentional about including. You know probiotic type foods and getting adequate prebiotics. And, just different fibers, kind of the whole gammit of fibers with resistant starch and insoluble and soluble. So really just attacking that at all angles. And I do have a blog post and a podcast on. You know, explaining fibers a little bit more in detail than what I’m doing today. So if you want to learn more about the different types of fibers. I’ll put the link that you can refer to. That if you want to understand a little more fully about fiber.

Dawn (04:25):

But, so we know that fiber and probiotics together are a good team, and I’ll show you some studies on those in a second. But I, but I also want you to see that it’s even more than that. Fiber impacts other areas of our health that influence our ability to lose weight. I’ll discuss all three ways that fiber supports weight loss to help put the odds in your favor to maximize your results after bariatric surgery. So let’s let’s talk about recommendations.

Fiber Recommendations

Dawn (04:53):

How much should you really even be eating of fiber? And today’s current recommendations for fiber are gender specific. Adult male should have about 34 grams in adult women should have about 28 grams. But unfortunately the US population is definitely below those recommendations. From the 2020 to 2025 dietary guidelines for Americans . They found that 90% of women and 97% of men eat less than these recommended guidelines.

Dawn (05:38):

So many less than 34 grams and women eat less than 28 grams. So that’s pretty sad. And what they found was the most.. Most of the fiber consumed is strictly from grains. It’s not from vegetables, it’s not from fruit, nuts and seeds, it’s from grains. Which is so unfortunate because the vegetables and the fruits and the nuts and seeds are where some magic happens. That’s where you’ve get some properties that grains cannot provide. I’m not against grains.

Dawn (06:48):

I think they have very high benefits and we should include them. I do feel like we don’t get enough of those vegetables and nuts and seeds and fruits on our, a regular basis, you know, more of that Mediterranean type of diet, which is kind of a gold standard that, you know, in most studies when they do a Mediterranean diet where they are focusing on olive oil and avocado oils and really staying away from the saturated fats and saturated oils and really focusing on all the plants and nuts and seeds and and, but still getting in proteins, it’s just not the main part of the dish.

Weight loss goals with fiber

Dawn (07:03):

So so I, I agree with that. I feel like we are lacking that as Americans and even more so in the bariatric community. And I think that gets misconstrued when we push protein so much, which in the beginning it totally makes sense. You’re eating such a small volume of food, but as you get further out and. Your pouch stretches, which it’s supposed to. As it stretches your ability to consume, you know, protein and fibers should be there.

Dawn (07:48):

And if it’s not, then that’s where you work with your bariatric team and figure out why can’t I get all of these foods in? Why can’t I get an adequate amount of food in? And work with them until you can, because it is important. And you’ll see in a little bit why it is important to make sure that you are getting in these fibers for. To support your weight loss goals. And to support your all your hard work and effort. You know, to be derailed months and years after having surgery because you’re missing this one little piece.

Dawn (08:18):

Seems crazy. So and, and another thing that I would say that kind of deters bariatric patients from doing fiber is because of the carbohydrates. Most patients try to follow a high protein, low carb diet, which I don’t disagree with, I’m totally fine with, but you may have to inch up your carbs at a number that may seem scary for some. But it’s more sustainable. I mean, long-term you can sustain you know, a carbohydrate intake that is not a crazy number, but it is high enough that you can get enough fiber in your diet and hit all your goals with your protein and with all the nutrients and and not still be super high on the carbs. And, you know, I’m not a big numbers person, but I would say for the most part, you’re going to be above a hundred.

Proteins and fibers for weight loss

Dawn (09:29):

So between a hundred and 125 grams of carbs. To get the adequate fiber. To get somewhere between that 28 and 35 grams of fiber. I do, you know, meal plans all the time that I can easily attain that that parameter. You’re still getting anywhere from, you know, 70 to 90, a hundred grams of protein. But still you’re able to get that 30 ish grams of fiber and but not go over really that much, over 125 grams of carbohydrates.

Dawn (10:08):

So to me, that’s a little more sustainable long-term. If you are in those parameters as opposed to, you know, 50 grams of carbs or for some people, you know, when they’re really trying to be super low carb they’re at 20 grams, which I guess there’s a time and a place for some people if you have some health conditions and you’re trying to get your, your body to, to you know, kind of obey and, you know, take everything at once and just really focus on getting those you know, everything in line.

Dawn (10:45):

I get it. But taking the long strategy is usually the the best. Because restriction is complicated. And, you know, I do restrictive diets or elimination type diets with patients all the time who, who are really struggling with tolerating food and who really are having digestive issues and maybe have colitis or are having a non celiac gluten sensitivity or having histamine issues or FODMAP issues. So I get it, you might need a time and a place for restriction because your health requires it, but the goal is to not, you know, maintain and that restricted state. But to heal correct what’s driving all those issues, to be out of balance and then reintroduce those foods and get as many in your life as possible that your genetics and your health conditions allow. So, you know, know somebody with celiac disease, we’re never going to reintroduce gluten.

Carbohydrates and fibers for weight loss

Dawn (11:57):

We’re going to be very strict about removing that. If somebody has food allergies, we’re never going to inter reintroduce those. So you can see where I’m going. But the big picture is that that fiber fits and it really can help with your weight loss goals. And help you meet your you long-term strategy. It really does provide you a long-term strategy that’s sustainable to stick with. And it’s not super restrictive that is easy to fall off of when life hits. So, so let’s kind of think about a low-carb high-fiber for weight loss. And how, how does that look now I gave you those indications, you, or those numbers, I gave you those numbers from grams of carbohydrates and how you can fit the fiber, and your protein and all of that into your daily intake.

Dawn (12:55):

Totally possible. And I’m gonna share a study that was published in 2021 and they studied two groups, a low fat diet group and a low carbohydrate group. And the hypothesis was, is that the low-fat group would consume more fiber because they could eat more carbohydrates. They did find that that group over the course of the study did increase their fiber intake. So prior to what they were eating before being in the study, they did increase their intake. But the low carb group, this was interesting, the low carb group maintained their fiber intake.

Dawn (13:40):

So they didn’t necessarily increase the overall number but they doubled their fiber from vegetables and nuts and seeds and avocados. All of those combined really did help improve that low-carb group intake compared to the low-fat group. What it’s really saying and really showing you is that the quality of food that you’re choosing that have fiber in them can help you meet your goals.

Higher fiber for weight loss

Dawn (14:10):

So it’s, it’s more about the quality and not about the quantity. Yes, you want to get 30 grams of fiber a day and you can totally do that with your food choices on a low-carb diet. It’s just being intentional about what foods you’re picking that are higher fiber sources. Say you wanna have a pasta, do like the chick pea pasta that has a, has more fiber, or choose another one that you found in your area that has a higher amount of fiber. Look at the labels. You should always be looking at the labels in the aspect of until you know, the food that makes the most sense for your health. So you have to look at packages, you have to look at ingredients, and you have to dial in the selections until you have it down.

Dawn (15:03):

So, you know, your first few grocery visits are definitely going to be longer, but as you find the products that work best for you. Then you spend less time in the grocery and no time looking at labels. So it makes it easier. Now I wanna discuss the fiber plus a probiotic for weight change. So another study published in 2021 they found after a 12 week double blind, placebo controlled study, 100 patients, so not a huge study at all a hundred patients with weight gain of more than 10% after taking antipsychotic medications were recruited.

Dawn (15:50):

So this is all about mental health. And this study was kind of the first to show a positive impact by combining fiber and probiotics. And they chose this group of people because a lot of psych meds actually pack on the pounds. So I really liked this study because it, it was interesting, they broke it into four groups.

Medications that makes you gain weight

Dawn (16:20):

So they did a probiotic with twice a day. Plus 30 grams of fiber twice daily for group one. Group two was just the probiotic twice daily and then a placebo for the fiber. So they didn’t get any fiber. And then the third group was placebo plus the fiber twice daily. And then the fourth group was just placebo. So only two of the four are actually getting fiber and only two of them are getting probiotics. And the primary outcome was the change in body weight. So, which is super hard when you’re on those psych meds to shift body weight.

Dawn (17:10):

And they did see an improvement with some secondary outcomes, which was changes in metabolic syndrome parameters, the appetite scores, biomarkers associated with change in weight and gut microbiome composition and function. So, so they are showing that when you add in the fiber with the probiotic, they found that that group was the one that actually netted the most benefits.

Dawn (17:40):

So, which is super awesome. Especially in this population where they need these medications but they never want to take them because it makes them gain weight and which is, you know, a vicious cycle. So it gets them into a pattern of, cause who feels good when you put on a bunch of pounds because you’re taking a medication that makes you gain weight. So that doesn’t help their mindset either.

The body weight and your ability to lose weight

Dawn (17:05):

So it was, it was hard to find specifics on this study, like very specifics, like what type of probiotic, what type of, you know, species and strains were they using and the fiber, I think this study was out of China, so some of the fibers I was not familiar with, it was just one that was known in, in China. So I wasn’t familiar with that. And then the, they didn’t give percentages, so I had a hard time finding all the details I wanted to.

Dawn (18:37):

But they are showing that there is an improvement with body weight in this population. So I found that promising because we do know that the gut microbiome does impact our, this, the body weight and your ability to lose weight, so, or just weight loss in general. And then when you make sure that you have adequate fiber in your diet, you’re, you’re adding that extra punch that you need to for your body to do everything it needs to do. And and I’ll share that in a minute, we’re not quite there. But the next I wanted to share a study about, you know, what happens after bariatric surgery. And a study published in 2016 found that roux-en-y gastric bypass patients weight loss was 53.8% higher in the group using a prebiotic fiber compared with a placebo group.

Dawn (19:35):

And more specifically, they use the fructooligosaccharides. So if you’ve listened to any of my videos, podcasts or blog posts. Then you have heard me talk about FODMAPs. And FODMAPs are in though is a fructooligosaccharide. This is where you can see being intentional about consuming fiber is super important in supporting your weight loss goals. So let’s, let’s dig into the three ways fiber supports your weight loss journey. And one is it can increase the short-chain fatty acids. Two, it can lower inflammation, and three, it can improve blood sugar regulation. Let’s dig into the short chain fatty acids. First and short chain fatty acids are produced from undigested fiber. So you have to consume fiber for short chain fatty acids to be produced. And short chain fatty acids are the ma the main metabolites produced by bacterial fermentation in the colon.

Fermentable fibers

Dawn (20:52):

So once your body, it passes through your small intestines and makes it into the colon, then your colon can digest it. They ferment it and digest it. And the metabolites or the byproducts, I guess is a better way to say it, are the short chain fatty acids. Like butyrate, acetate, propinate. Those types of short chain fatty acids. And one of the mechanisms in which the gut microbiome affects human health and disease is its capacity to produce either harmful metabolites that actually develop into disease or beneficial metabolites that protect against disease. So your food choices make a difference on the metabolites that they are producing. So when fermentable fibers are not present or not consumed, your gut microbe switch to a less favorable source of growth by using amino acids from dietary proteins and also dietary fats.

Dawn (22:09):

So they don’t prefer to use that. And when you think or it’s going to produce the, the metabolites are going to be different and could be more harm on the harmful side as opposed to the beneficial side. So it can be in the developing stages of disease or protecting from disease. Protein fermentation can contribute to sh the short chain fatty acid pool. Having proteins is good but not having plant fibers is bad.

Dawn (22:58):

But what happens when the protein fermentation, it gives rise to branch chain fatty acids and these unfortunately are implicated in insulin resistance. So it’s the opposite of what we’re wanting. Having a high protein diet is great and nothing wrong with it, it’s just not going to give you the end result that you’re hoping for.  I think that to me is what we’ve got to shift in the bariatric community.

Protein foods and plants fiber

Dawn (23:21):

We have got to get you consuming these plant fibers regularly. In conjunction with your protein foods and being more intentional about adding more plants in. Because in the end it’s really the best way to prevent, regain and to support weight loss. They’ve also found that the short chain fatty acid butyrate has been extensively investigated for its role in the suppression of colon inflammation and carcinogenesis. So it the more short chain fatty acid production of butyrate, which requires plants to create so short chain fatty acids.

Dawn (24:18):

The short chain fatty acid butyrate. Is not going to be manufactured by just having a diet of proteins and very little carbohydrates it ne.. Or very little plants I should say. So when you’re choosing carbohydrates that are low in fiber and your, your days and whole diet consists of very low fiber intake, then you’re not gonna produce butyrate and then that is when it’s easier to get in an inflammatory state.

Dawn (24:40):

Additionally a healthy diet that with bacterial fermentation of fiber in two short chain fatty acids promotes diversity. So gut bacteria diversity. Which is a key piece in inhibiting weight gain. So this, having a whole bunch of different types of bacteria in your gut is the key. And we know that obese individuals prior to bariatric surgery have low diversity and that we know that bariatric surgery does flip that and you have a higher diversity.

Weight loss inflammation and maintenance

Dawn (25:18):

But your gut bacteria shifts and it it migrates to what you’re doing. So just because bariatric surgery shifted it to more diversity doesn’t mean it stays there. It’s not a permanent thing. It’s, up to you. Your choices moving forward is going to influence the outcome of that diversity. And that’s where that fiber comes into play. So if you want to support, have, you know, if you wanna support weight loss, then include fiber so that you get more gut bacteria diversity.

Dawn (25:57):

So this leads to the next one, inflammation. How fiber supports weight loss by lowering inflammation. Most are aware that there is a connection between low grade inflammation and obesity. And a study published in 2018 found that the diet supplementation with synbiotics, which is kind of a pre and a probiotic prepared with certain strains of probiotics, which they used a lactobacillus gasseri strain. And they showed to this type of probiotic strain, was shown to exert weight reduction and anti-inflammatory activity in large independent studies.

Dawn (26:58):

And they, they added with this strain of probiotic and they added galactomanin or, and or an inulin fiber. So chickery root fiber. And they found that it was, that these types of fibers and type of probiotic combined may increase weight management effects due to the effect of the short chain fatty acid production and your gut bacteria kind of reconfiguring because of the, the addition of the probiotic and the fiber in conjunction.

Blood sugar balance and weight loss maintenance

Dawn (27:31):

So the combination with how it lowers inflammation and also supports weight management is important. And you can see that they kind of work synergistically and working on one area usually does help improve the other areas too. So those short chain fatty acids, actually when those are produced, it lowers the inflammatory response and it actually strengthens that gut lining so that you, you’re more resilient.

Dawn (28:28):

You’re more capable, your body’s more capable of handling things that are coming their way. Cause there’s a lot of things we can’t control that we’re exposed to. I mean, we just, you know, you drive to work and you’re exposed to stuff you. You know, walk into work and you know, there’s all kinds of things that, you know, a hundred years ago there’s like 85,000 new chemicals that have been allowed in the last hundred years that, you know, our ancestors never had to deal with.

Dawn (28:41):

So again, I think the more you can build your health to be resilient to things. Is going to benefit you in the long run for your weight loss goals, to maintain them. The next one is how fiber supports weight loss by improving blood sugar balance. And blood sugar balance is an very important piece when it comes to weight loss and maintenance. And anybody that is experiencing spikes and valleys or blood sugar that’s going up and down throughout the day is really not going to do well with their weight.

Influence of gut bacteria in weight loss

Dawn (29:28):

They’re easily going to be putting on pounds because they’re having to correct low blood sugars throughout the day. And that’s going to again, create you know, more insulin and that storage of the, the excess glucose your body’s gonna store it for later. So you’re going to easily put it away into the fat so that you can have it for a rainy day when you aren’t going to have enough glucose to fuel your body.

Dawn (29:58):

And that’s the unfortunate thing. Then it gets in a cycle where you aren’t. Cause you feel miserable. So who, when you feel bad, who wants to exercise and do things. So so that’s where, you know, having blood sugar balance is always to me, step one when it comes to, if, if you’re struggling with weight loss. Then first and foremost you’ve got to dial in your blood sugar balance. That has to be step one because with that you’re going to influence the inflammation.

Dawn (30:28):

You’re going to influence your gut bacteria. You’re going to influence your energy and your overall mood. So all of those things are just, you know, they’re all interconnected, so you can’t ignore one and only focus on the others. You have to kind of do the whole package and put ’em together. So so let’s talk about fiber and how that impacts your blood sugar.

Small intestines balance after bariatric surgery

Dawn (31:07):

And technically your, since your body is unable to absorb and break down fiber it doesn’t cause a spike in your blood sugar. So compared to carbohydrates that don’t contain fiber. That those will increase your blood sugar, whereas the ones that have fiber in them won’t spike your blood sugar. So that’s why, you know, your dietician probably tells you, you know, eat the whole apple with the peel. Once you’re past a certain phase where you have to have the peel removed after bariatric surgery. You know, once you can introduce that, the peels then most definitely include those and eat the whole fruit or the whole plant, like the plant of a sweet potato or the skin of a sweet potato. And that will give you more fiber. So the more ways that you can incorporate fiber dense foods the better blood sugar stability you will have.

Dawn (32:07):

So this study was published in the 2021 and they focused on the fructooligosaccharides and which is considered a soluble fiber. And also it’s technically the plant sugar. It occurs in many fruits and vegetables. These are things like onions, garlic, asparagus, bananas, artichoke, chicory those are a few of the fructo-oligosaccharides. Even though it’s  sugar of the plant, it’s still not digested in the small intestines.

Dawn (32:47):

And instead the colon’s gonna metabolize it and create short chain fatty acids from it. So in this study they added eight grams of the fructooligosaccharides for 14 days to the diet of patients that were type two diabetes that had type two diabetes and whose serum glucose was uncontrolled. So these patients had very high blood sugars. And they found after, by adding this fructooligosaccharide, just eight grams of it they found that the fasting blood test showed an 8% reduction in serum glucose levels.

Dawn (33:22):

So you can see just by adding this one type of fiber, they did find benefit with lowering the blood sugars. Another study published in 2009 found that adding fructooligosaccharides supplement as opposed to from the food that it has the potential to promote weight loss and improve glucose regulation in overweight adults. The reason this occurred was because it suppressed ghrelin, which is your hunger hormone. And it enhanced or increased the PYY, which is your satiation. So think of that as it’s going to give you lower, lower your appetite. They found good benefits by adding just fructooligosaccharides, so those types of fibers. So this soluble fiber specifically. Think of it at, to me, food first is where I would go. I would focus on adding in asparagus, artichokes, onions and garlic and bananas, probably more green bananas as opposed to ripe.

Conclusion

Dawn (34:35):

And you’ll get some of the resistant starch with that as well. So you’d also get soluble fibers and resistance starch fibers. Which would additionally help. So, so I hope this has given you some insight that fiber is important. And even though you have to do protein and it needs to be a priority after bariatric surgery. The further you get out, you have the belly space to get adequate fiber and you can still get a low carbohydrate diet and get adequate fiber. So there’s no reason why after bariatric surgery that you can’t utilize fiber to support your weight loss goals.. And helping you support by lowering inflammation and balancing your blood sugars and increasing that short chain fatty acid production. So that you get the best results with your goals. So I hope that helps you guys

DAwn (35:36):

Enjoy your day and make sure you’re including lots of fiber from different.. Different plants with lots of colors. So have a great week. See you next time. Bye-Bye.

Your future health awaits…