It is recommended by many organizations, like the National Institute of Health, that adults consume from 20 to 35 grams of fiber everyday. It seems like a large amount, but having it in your diet is absolutely essential.

Fiber is, specifically, the part of plants that cannot be digested. It appears in two forms, known as soluble fiber and insoluble fiber. Soluble fibers dissolve easily in water and are found in things like fruit pectin. To benefit your body, the soluble fiber binds with the sugars in the stomach to allow them to be broken further before the travel through the intestines. This helps maintain a healthy blood sugar level as well as a proper cholesterol level.

Insoluble fiber is what is known to most people as “fiber.” It comes in fruits, vegetables and bran. This bulky fiber acts like a drain cleaner and clears debris and bulk out of your bowels, promotes intestinal health and stimulates bowel movements.

With proper dieting, you can maintain a perfect ratio between the two types of fibers: a quarter soluble and three quarters insoluble. Most complaints, when not receiving enough fiber in a diet, include constipation, hard stool and difficult passing of stool. Fiber can improve the cardiovascular system as well as the excretory system and digestive system. When included in a diet properly, it maintains healthy balances of blood sugar and cholesterol as well as promoting intestinal health. The benefits of a high fiber diet are numerous.

Glyconutrients is a new branch of nutrition that could improve the health of the world. In fact, it has been an exploding trend on the alternative health and nutrition sub market of the world. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology even deemed glyconutrients as one of the top ten technologies that will change the world. So what exactly are glyconutrients and how can they help you live a healthier life?

Currently, half of the world’s population will die due to things like cancer, heart disease and autoimmune disease. The only answers the medical community has come up with so far involve adding new compounds to the human body in order to try and lessen or cure these afflictions. Glyconutrients, however, focus on improving the already existing compounds and biochemistry of the body to fight off and prevent these deadly diseases.

Glyconutrients provide the body’s cells with an effective form of communication with other cells. It loads the body with plant sugars that are almost always non existent or lacking. Many diseases have been found to begin with a break down in communication between the cells of the body, so if that communication link is never broken, the idea is that the disease will then be fought off.

There are currently eight identified glyconutrients, six of which are not usually in a regular diet. If you want to follow the philosophy of glycobiology, then you must take a supplement available online or at most health food stores.

An apple a day can keep the doctor away. Or can it? That’s right, forget the apple. The benefits of a banana are numerous, so go grab one to eat while you read all the good things it’s doing for you.

Energy

A banana is packed full of raw sugars, namely fructose, glucose and sucrose. It is also very high in fiber. This combination will give you an extra energy boost as well as a satisfying full feeling in your stomach. The banana is the most popular fruit among world class athletes simply because of the energy and fiber that’s packed into its yellow peelings.

Blood Pressure

The perfect fruit is also packed full of potassium (and contains little to no salt) which is a potent combination for fighting high blood pressure. In fact, the FDA has even allowed the banana industry to claim that they’re the only fruit capable of lowering blood pressure.

Stress

A banana a day can also keep the psychologist away! In fact, a banana is a natural antidepressant because it contains a protein called tryptophan that is naturally reduced to serotonin, which is a chemical that causes feelings like tranquility and happiness. This is the same chemical that antidepressants produce inside the body.