Psyllium as a Source of Fiber in the Diet
In the last two decades, the importance of a good level of fiber in the diet has become more widely known, thanks to the many studies on the topic, and government promotions of the need for fiber in a person's diet to maintain good health. Those in the know have been aware of fiber's significance for many centuries, if not millennia.
I took a personal interest in fiber back in the late 1970's, when I was suffering the effects of many years of medication for ankylosing spondylitis, a type of arthritis that affects mostly young men. Young and ignorant, I had just accepted the continuation of various anti-inflammatory drugs. By my early 30's, I suffered from ulcers and irritable bowel syndrome. One night, I went to the bathroom shortly after I had gone to bed, and I really thought I was about to die. In fact, I did not see how I could ever get out of that bathroom alive.
From the next day, I became an avid amateur researcher on health and diet, soon discovering that anti-inflammatory drugs could cause some serious side effects. One of the drugs I had taken earlier had been withdrawn due to so many deaths and serious side effects. I made a decision: look after my health, and phase out the medication as quickly as I could.
More than twenty years later, I have not had anti-inflammatory drugs since I phased them out. Even after a hip replacement operation in the 1990's, I declined them. When I told the surgeon I would take arnica, a homeopathic treatment, instead, he just smiled and said: "Aah, that's good. I've had several patients recently used that after the operation." How times change.
My earlier research, which was not scientific but based on reading and testing, soon convinced me that the digestive system was a key to good health, and keeping it clear of debris and toxins was critical. I discovered the importance of fiber, and liked the idea of psyllium husks. I had become intolerant of rough fiber, such as that found in wholewheat, and the idea of a soft fiber that became like a gel in water, was quite appealing.
Psyllium husks, which have been used in India for many generations, are one of the world's best forms of fiber for human consumption. After a few months of using psyllium in powder form, just mixed with water, my digestive system felt clear, and my bowel movements were the best they had ever been. I have been taking psyllium every day since, apart from a break of a year or so when traveling, and have never had a repeat of the digestive problems I had in the early 80's.
Of course, there is much more to a high fiber diet than taking psyllium powder every day, and the digestive systems requires a good healthy diet, as well as managed healthy bacteria you can obtain through probiotics. However, I have no doubts in my own mind that psyllium was the most beneficial find in my 1980's reasearch on digestive problems, and natural resolutions thereof.
By the way, drinking psyllium husk powder in water is not to everyone's taste. In fact, some would find it difficult to take, despite its neutral taste, but you can try it with a fruit juice, or buy capsules. In recent years, some psyllium based formulae have been developed that include many ingredients for a health digestive system, and especially a cleansed colon.
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