The resolution to this dilemma lies in examining more closely just what fiber is and what it does for you.

What Is Fiber?

Fiber is, it’s true, a type of carbohydrate. That is, fiber compounds are composed of molecules whose chief elements are carbon, hydrogen and oxygen in combination. But there is a key difference between fiber and other types of carbohydrate: it doesn’t break down during digestion.

Both simple sugars (simple carbs) and starches (complex carbs) are broken down by digestive enzymes, releasing energy the body uses for an infinite variety of vital processes. Fiber is not, at least not much. That simple difference leads to a number of beneficial effects.

Why Is Fiber Good?

Insoluble fiber, by definition, does not dissolve in water. As such, it moves through the digestive system where it helps increase the bulk of stools. That helps prevent constipation. It also moves through the intestines relatively fast, which generates signals to the brain that you’re full. In that way, it discourages overeating and the accompanying excess consumption of calories.

Insoluble fiber is contained in whole-wheat flour and wheat bran, many types of nut and several vegetables that contribute ‘roughage’ to the diet.

Soluble fiber, by contrast, does dissolve in water and so forms a type of gel that makes its way through the digestive system. As a result it helps regulate blood glucose levels. On route it helps cleanse the tract of bacteria.

Soluble fiber is part of a wide variety of foods, including oats and barley, carrots and peas, apples and citrus fruit, and beans.

A high fiber diet helps decrease the odds of heart disease by lowering LDL cholesterol (the undesirable type).

It slows the absorption of sugar contained in food consumed, which helps smooth out any spikes. That helps improve a number called the Glycemic Index, one key to a healthy diet according to some diet programs such as the South Beach Diet.

Controlling blood glucose levels has another beneficial effect, according to many studies. Insulin levels are related to blood glucose levels. Excess glucose over long periods increases the odds of acquiring Type 2 diabetes. A high fiber diet can help decrease those odds.

Since fiber is not broken down, it adds bulk without calories. That contributes to a feeling of fullness and satiation without the accompanying potential for storing excess calories as fat. Thus, it contributes mightily to any weight loss program.

How Much Daily Fiber Is Good?

There is no official RDA (Recommended Daily Allowance) for fiber as there is for many other nutritional components. But official sources put the desirable amount at roughly 25 grams per day. The average consumption is often much lower, around 15 grams per day.

One study of over 500 subjects conducted at the University of Massachusetts Medical School over one year showed that those who consumed 22 grams or more were 63% less likely to have high CRP levels. High CRP (C-reactive protein) is linked with higher risk of heart disease and diabetes.

Summary

Like any aspect of diet and nutrition, the value of fiber can be (and sometimes is) overstated. But numerous studies agree that a high fiber diet has definite benefits. As with any proposed change in diet, consulting your physician first is wise.

About 60% of the human body is water, muscle tissue almost 70%. An enormous range of biochemical reactions inside cells and out require water. Add these facts together and it’s clear that water is a must. No surprise, there. But what might be is how easy it is to have a deficit.

Effects of Dehydration

Lack of proper hydration can have far worse effects than merely feeling thirsty. Headache, fatigue and dizziness are common signs. Heat stroke is serious, potentially fatal – and dehydration is one of the major factors that lead to it.

Nor is it quite good enough to merely wait until you are thirsty to address your fluid need. Elevated internal body temperature, high heart rate and poor motor performance set in when your body has experienced only a 3% weight loss from water deprivation.

In a cool environment, even when you are at rest, your body will lose about 2-3 liters in a day. If you’re active, the number rises to between 3-6 liters. On a warm day, during vigorous activity, the number can be as high as 10 liters. That’s about 3 gallons of water in one day.

How Much Should You Consume and When?

It’s preferable to hydrate in advance. According to the American College of Sports Medicine, that amounts to about 17 ounces (500 ml) every 2 hours for 24 hours prior to any vigorous workout. Another 7-10 ounces (about 200-300 ml) every 20 minutes during exercise is also recommended.

What About Sports Drinks?

Some sports drinks are the perfect form of fluid intake. Just drinking water can lead to harmful dilution of the concentrations of sodium, potassium and other minerals in the body. Among other things, those help regulate the heart and nerve signals. A properly balanced sports drink helps maintain the proper concentration.

But many so-called sports drinks are chock full of sugar. A little bit of simple sugar isn’t bad. It can even be beneficial. But a bottle of sports drink that is really just soda without the bubbles isn’t helpful. Keep that type to a minimum.

Fruit juices can be an effective way of getting needed fluid. But keep in mind that drinks with carbs slow the body’s rate of absorption of water. Here too, the amount of sugar needs to be monitored.

Caffeine and Alcohol

Caffeine drinks aren’t necessarily unhealthy. In fact, in moderation, caffeine has been shown to have definite health benefits. But it’s also a diuretic, a substance that increases urine output. Drinking lots of coffee can actually encourage dehydration. Studies in which participants drank about 6 cups per day (642 mg/day) experienced  a 3% loss of body water.

Similarly, alcohol in moderate amounts is beneficial. Red wine has antioxidants. Even beer is healthy, since some of the health effects are due to alcohol alone and hops are good for you. But they do tend also to dehydrate. They’re not a substitute for the total water needed daily.

Summary

The body needs several types of nutrients every day, throughout the day: proteins, fats, carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals – and water. Don’t forget the liquid nutrient.

What are labeled minerals are often elements from the Periodic Table, things like iron (Fe), calcium (Ca), zinc (Zn) and potassium (K). They’re called minerals, though, because they readily combine with oxygen (O) and other elements or molecules in the body to produce what are technically minerals. Elements are simple atoms, minerals are always combinations of atoms.

They’re essential because they play an indispensable role in so many vital biochemical processes that contribute to health.

Iron

Iron, for example, is a key element in the hemoglobin molecule. This complex molecule is a necessary component of red blood cells, which transport oxygen throughout the entire body. That oxygen is a major factor in a wide variety of biochemical reactions that take place within the cells making up living tissue.

Children should get about 10 mg per day, while adolescents need about 11 mg (for males) and 15 mg (for females). Adult males need about 8 mg, females around 18 mg though the number drops to 8 mg after age 51. Chicken liver is an excellent source of iron and can supply up to 70% of the daily requirement. Beef, turkey, oysters and clams are other good sources.

Calcium

Calcium is another common element that is vital to good nutrition. Its role in the development and maintenance of bones and teeth is well known. But it also plays a part in maintaining the heart and nerves. It performs a major function in muscle contraction, and participates in the secretion of hormones and enzymes.

While bone loss is slow, calcium is lost out of the body all the time through the hair and nails, in feces and sweat, and other means. Getting an adequate amount isn’t difficult, though. Milk is a well known source, but for the lactose intolerant orange juice is often fortified with calcium. Leafy green vegetables are another good source.

Younger children should get about 800 mg per day, while adolescents need approximately 1300 mg daily. Adults should be sure to get 1000 mg (1 gram) daily, with no more than 500 mg at one time. The number rises to 1200mg for those over 51. Avoid consuming more than 2,400 mg daily since this can lead to imbalance of other minerals and a type of toxicity.

Potassium

Key to good blood pressure is an element very similar to sodium: potassium. Both participate in the mechanism that keeps the heart pumping. But potassium has a much wider role in the human body. It’s found in almost every cell and the fluid surrounding them. It participates in good kidney function and digestion.

Getting potassium from the diet is easy. Adults need about 4700 mg daily, while the proper amount for children ranges from 3000-3800 mg, with adolescents at 4500 mg. Good sources include potatoes (610 mg), bananas (420 mg), milk (380 mg), orange juice (355 mg) and halibut (490 mg). Yogurt nearly tops the list at 580 mg for one cup of nonfat, plain.

Summary

There are a dozen or more minerals that play a vital role in any balanced diet, including magnesium, selenium, sodium and more. All these can be gained from a healthy diet, but that can be hard to achieve. For those who tend to eat on the run, supplements can play a valuable role.

A healthy diet requires not just items from the four basic food groups, but in the proper proportion. The average person will need about 2000-2500 calories (sometimes more for larger men, less for women and those looking for rapid weight loss). About 50% of those calories should come in the form of carbohydrates, with 30% from fats (yes, fat is good!) and 20% from proteins.

Carbohydrates are the main source of compounds needed for energy. Simple sugars, such as glucose and fructose, are rapidly broken down in the intestine and absorbed. Some processing starts the minute they hit your tongue. Complex carbohydrates – starches, such as those found in potatoes – take longer, but are also healthy in moderation.

Fats are chemically similar to carbohydrates, and contain fatty acids essential to health. Proteins are lysed (split) to make amino acids, that are then recombined to form proteins used in muscles and other structures.

Meat is a valid and healthy source of proteins for almost everyone. About 3 ounces per meal is about right for the average sized person. A cup of pasta is a good source of carbohydrates. Two cups of leafy green vegetables supply fiber, minerals and vitamins.

A balanced meal can be made up of a serving of meat or other protein source, starchy carbohydrates such as pasta, rice, corn or potatoes, and fruit. Easy on the butter or margarine, go light on cheese, sauces and anything high in sugar or fat.

Though you could get the basics from a variety of sources, when considering weight control in addition to getting the proper balance, it’s important to know which sources are high in what.

Fat contains nine calories per gram, which is double than other energy sources. Thus, you need to keep those foods high in fat down to modest levels. That also helps control cholesterol levels.

All sources of carbohydrates have four calories per gram. But healthy sources also contain needed minerals, vitamins and fiber. Some examples are fruits (apples, pears, peaches), nuts (walnuts are lower in fat than peanuts or cashews, for example) and grains (for fiber and minerals).

Why is candy bad, unless consumed in very modest portions? Because they are designed to be high in fat, high in sugar with much lower amounts of helpful nutrients. Neither fat nor sugar are harmful in moderation. Indeed, they’re essential to good health. But when consumed in a form that contains an excessive proportion, they provide enormous calories and fewer other nutrients.

Making a list of items you consume will show you the relative amounts of helpful nutrients – and how many calories each contains. Putting a little arithmetic into your diet plan will help you reduce the number you obsess over – your weight.

Supplements can help fill the gap. Unfortunately, there is a large amount of junk science, and much more that simply isn’t known for sure one way or the other, with respect to any weight loss supplement or nutritional aid. It pays to be cautious. It’s your health.

For example, Vitamin C is needed to make collagen, an important feature of many proteins that go to make blood vessels, tendons and more. It also plays a role in making norepinephrine, a key neurotransmitter. A large amount of research exists to show that Vitamin C helps reduce free radicals that can damage cells. This antioxidant role is a factor in reducing the odds of cancer and other diseases.

Children should get from 15-25 mg per day, while adolescents need 75 mg (males) or 65 mg (females). Adult males need about 125 mg daily, females 75 mg. Orange juice is an excellent source, since it contains 75 mg in only 6 ounces. A cup of strawberries has 82 mg. Even a medium tomato will have about 23 mg. It’s hard to ‘overdose’ on Vitamin C since any excess is excreted out in the urine.

The role of Vitamin A in vision has been well publicized. Every child knows he is ’supposed to eat his carrots’. But it also plays a part in maintaining the lining of the lungs, as well as that of the urinary and digestive tracts.

Adults need about 2300 IU (females) and 3000 IU (men). Good sources include carrots, of course. But a medium egg will supply about 280 IU. An ounce of Cheddar cheese has about 300 IU. Breakfast cereals may contain anywhere from 500-1000 IU.

But, unlike Vitamin C, it is possible to consume too much Vitamin A. A safe upper limit ranges between 8000-10,000 IU daily. Too much over a long period can produce vomiting or even liver damage. Still, many large surveys point to the conclusion that about 25% of adult Americans don’t get enough in their diet.

There are a number of other essential daily vitamins, including members of the B-complex, D, E and others. But these two examples alone are enough to show that it requires some care to get the right amounts. Whether attempting to get all the needed vitamins from diet alone or by taking supplements, it’s important to keep track of the amounts.

Those taking supplements as part of a weight loss program should find this easy. They’re already tuned to monitoring their intake. But the same advice applies to anyone seeking to optimize their nutrition.

Every month there’s a new claim, often given a coating of respectability by quoting the latest ’study’. But if trained scientists have difficulty deciding what the truth is, you can bet the average laymen doesn’t know for sure.

So what’s a person who just wants to lose weight to do? Not everyone is a scientist, and very few have the time or inclination to read a dozen scientific studies. Well, there’s no perfect solution to that dilemma, but there are a few common sense guidelines that can go a long way toward avoiding common mistakes.

Greet with a skeptical eye any outsized claims. ‘Outsized’, here, means those that make rock certain claims to know what’s best in nutrition – especially when they contradict long-standing and obvious guidelines.

Studies may differ on details, but they all agree that a balanced diet of the basic essentials – carbohydrates, protein, etc – is best. All agree that moderate, regular age-appropriate exercise is an important factor in health.

Be wary of anyone making promises for safe, easy, quick results. It’s possible to achieve any one of these three, but never all three together. A wise weight loss program will definitely consider safety first. It will rarely be easy – technology has advanced, but not THAT much. And, it is almost never quick. Reducing excess body fat, losing weight and getting fit require a long-term commitment.

Treat with caution any program that tries the other side of the coin: to scare you into adopting it. Many will tout claims of the dangers of meat, for example. While consuming excess animal fat can increase health risks, what is ‘excess’ is still being examined.

Any claim that eating meat in moderation is harmful is based only on junk science. Adopting a strictly vegetarian diet for ethical reasons or matters of taste is a valid choice, but not one required by science.

In other words, avoid extremes.

There are 3-day diets that recommend eating nothing but fruit for three days, then other foods the rest of the week. Bad idea. Such a diet is necessarily unbalanced and will cause rollercoaster effects on the body.

There are diets recommending almost all protein and very few carbohydrates. Bad idea. The body needs a variety of materials from which to extract and synthesize what it needs. That means it benefits from a balance of protein (to produce amino acids), carbohydrates (for energy), fiber and other essential elements.

Anyone selling a miracle cure, effortless or instant results, while claiming to have a safe and reliable program is selling you air. Don’t buy.

The same basic idea applies in all cases: not too much of this here, not too little of that there. But in the case of diet, what is it that gets balanced, exactly?

The answer is given by nutrition science, as graphically shown in the famed food pyramid. The basic guidelines are simple and based on sound nutrition. It’s this: get the right amount of carbohydrates, fats, protein, minerals and other needed compounds.

Carbohydrates are sometimes mistakenly looked at as unhealthy or not appropriate for dieters. Au contraire, carbohydrates are essential. They are the body’s foremost source of energy. Carbohydrates are broken down and put back together into various combinations of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen, releasing energy along the way. That energy is used for cell repair, muscle movement and many other biological processes. In short, carbohydrates power everything we do.

About 50-60% of the total calories consumed daily should be in the form of carbohydrates. Slightly lower for those aiming at weight loss. That can be anywhere from roughly 150-400 grams per day. Every gram of carbs yields 4 calories. The wide range is the result of variation in diets. For a 2,000 calorie diet, for example, 50% is equivalent to 1,000 calories of carbs, or 250 grams. Some diets are focused on weight loss, others on muscle building, some on body fat reduction… the list is endless.

Fat often gets bad press, too. One reason is the fact that each gram yields 9 calories, so they’re ‘energy dense’. But they’re also the body’s ‘emergency energy supply’. Consumption of fat – of the right type and in the right quantities – is essential to a healthy diet. It is needed to create certain hormones and enzymes, to keep the brain and nerves healthy, to aid in storing fat soluble vitamins and a variety of other tasks.

But there are different types. A healthy, balanced diet will contain chiefly unsaturated fats, avoiding saturated and trans-fats. These should make up about 20-30% of the total daily calories intake. That’s about 25-40 grams per day.

Proteins are another vital component of the balanced diet. They’re broken down by digestion into amino acids, which are then reassembled into proteins used for growth, muscle building, cell repair and other functions. A healthy diet is comprised of 25-35% protein per day. That works out to, say, 165 grams or 660 calories daily (33%) for a diet of 2,000 calories.

Vitamins and minerals are the biochemical ‘facilitators’ in the diet. They add few calories, but are essential to getting all the needed reactions to take place. A wide variety of A, B-complex, C, D, E, K along with mineral elements like sodium, calcium, iron, zinc and others are a must. It would take an entire article just to list the names and amounts. A few of the major ones are:

Sodium: no more than 2,400 mg per day
Calcium: 1200-1500 mg per day
Iron: 15-20 mg per day
Zinc: 15-20 mg per day
Folic Acid (a B-complex vitamin): 400 mcg per day

Numbers are based on a 2,000 calorie per day diet for an average adult.

Calcium is used in bulk to build up bones. Iron is essential for making hemoglobin, a key component of red blood cells. Sodium is used to regulate the heart beat, in nerve fibers and elsewhere.

In theory a healthy, balanced diet – whether one designed for weight loss, weight training or just basic nutrition – can supply all the needed elements. But, leading busy lives can often cause individuals to forego some important aspects. Supplements, used wisely, can help in those cases.