Just because a little is good, more is not necessarily better. Fibre exists in abundance in all plant-based foods. It is that part of the plant which cannot be digested. Therefore it passes through the GI tract unchanged. It does not provide energy or nutrients and yet it is of utmost important to keep us in good health. For one, it acts like a broom and cleans up the body of toxins, fats and wastes. Think of fibre as a sponge passing through your gastrointestinal tract. It has water-holding and bulk-forming properties. It cleans the GI tract and even helps lower cholesterol.

The soluble fibre found in guar gum, psyllium husk, skin of apples, oat bran, most fruits and vegetables is effective in reducing cholesterol, controlling appetite and controlling blood sugar in diabetics. It acts as a barrier and delays absorption of carbohydrates by lowering cholesterol and triglycerides, reduces risk of heart disease. It also helps to lower blood pressure and promotes growth of friendly bacteria.

The insoluble fibre found in wheat bran, rice bran and most cereals like jowar, bajri, naachini has a laxative effect, which promotes stool regularity, cleans the bowels efficiently, aids elimination as well as improves digestion. Because of its effect on reducing transit time of the stools, it greatly reduces the risk of colon cancer.

All foods are meant to be consumed in their whole natural form. If you remove the fibre from the orange (as in orange juice) or from apple (as in apple juice) you may upset the 'apple cart'. When you remove the fibre from fruits or from whole grains as in maida you are removing essential vitamins and minerals along with it. This in addition to other problems upsets the digestion and may lead to gas, bloating, acidity, weight gain, mood swings.

Fibre and body weight: Our diets have changed and will continue to change. We eat food more for its entertainment value than for its nutrient value. Foods deprived of fibre create more hunger and one tends to eat larger quantities of such refined foods (due to lack of bulk). The convertibility into fat of fibre-stripped foods is also high. All this leads to weight gain.

Being overweight sets the stage for most degenerative diseases to come in. This advances the aging process. If your numerological age is 35 your biological age (age of your body organs) may be much more, thus advancing disease, normally meant to affect you at age 50 but not affecting you as young as 35 or 40.

How many of us have heard of men precipitating a heart problem at 30 or 35. It was never meant to be that way. Heart disease should have ideally started after 50 or may be never if you are careful. This appears to be the result of the foods that you eat through the day, day after day and over the years.

Have you heard of girls attaining puberty at as young as 9 or 10 years of age? This was not always so. The ideal age for onset of periods is about 14-15 years of age. So why is the body aging faster than its numerological age? This also appears to be the result of foods that children eat. Early puberty is linked to a higher risk of breast cancer. Eating fibre-rich foods helps the body get rid of excess hormones and normalise body processes. Normal hormones means less risk of hormone related cancers like breast cancer, cervical cancer, prostrates cancer, ovarian cancer.