Chapter 8 – Fiber: The Magic Sponge

Dr. Bernard Jensen, D.C., Ph.D., one of the most renowned nutrition experts in the world and author of many popular health books, stated that:

“Any cleansing program should begin in the colon … In the 50 years I’ve spent helping people to overcome illness, disability and disease, it has become crystal clear that poor bowel management lies at the root of most people’s health problems. In treating over 300,000 patients, it is the bowel that invariably has to be cared for first before any effective healing can take place.”

The main purpose of consuming fiber is elimination. Without fiber, complete elimination is nearly impossible, if possible at all. The human body is built miraculously in such a way that almost all the toxins from every part of the body, including millions of dead cells, end up in the human sewage system daily – the colon. The colon fills up with waste matter so full of poison that we look at it with disgust, not daring to touch it. In order to eliminate this matter, the body needs fiber.

There are two main kinds of fiber: soluble and insoluble. Soluble fiber is found in fruit, beans, peas, oat bran and especially in chia seeds. It has a gel-like consistency that improves bowel movements by increasing the volume of bulk in the colon. Soluble fiber binds together cholesterol in the small intestines and takes it out of the body. Certain soluble fibers such as pectin (found in apples) and guar gums (found in chia seed, oatmeal, legumes and mangos) slow down the release of the sugars contained in the foods we eat, thus reducing the risk of diabetes.

Insoluble fiber is found primarily in greens, peels, nuts, seeds, beans and skins of grains. The elimination system is very complex. It has been perfected by nature to every minute action. I’ll try to explain this complicated process with a very simple example. Insoluble fiber under a microscope looks like a sponge, and indeed it serves us as a miraculous sponge, because every piece of it can absorb many times more toxins than its own volume. Have you ever wondered why we always like to have a sponge in our kitchen? We never use something smooth, like paper or plastic to wipe dirty counters clean. Sponges are fibrous. They make the job of cleaning easier by absorbing dirt. So does insoluble fiber. It grabs the toxins and takes them out of the body and into the toilet. Insoluble fiber is much better than any sponge because it can hold several times more toxins than its own size. I call it a magic sponge.

If we do not consume fiber, most of the toxic waste accumulates in our body. Our body is constructed in such a marvelous way that all the toxins are directed to the bowels. This is the human body’s sewage system. We need to understand that we have to eliminate many pounds of toxins regularly.

Where do toxins come from? They come not only from inhaling dust and asbestos, undigested food, ingested heavy metals and pesticides. A large amount of toxins come from the dead cells of our own bodies. We know that cells are tiny and sometimes conclude that the cell could not add much to the amount of waste in our body. However, let’s keep in mind that every year as much as 98% of the total number of atoms in our body are replaced. That means anywhere from 70-100 pounds of dead cells per year, or more, should be passing out of our system. If they don’t, the dead cells of our own body can be one of the most toxic kinds of waste because they begin to rot right away. It is important to understand that when we do not consume enough fiber, we accumulate a lot more waste than our bodies can handle.

Just as one cannot clean a kitchen without a sponge, the human body cannot eliminate without fiber. Picture yourself being challenged to clean some large, dirty space like a garage, with nothing but plastic wrap. I would give up. The human body won’t give up, but if there is no fiber, the first thing that happens is our skin tries to take on the elimination “job” and as a result the skin becomes rough and bumpy When our bowels are clogged, our body attempts to excrete more mucus, through our eyes, nose, and throat, we sweat a lot more — the body uses every possible channel to eliminate, but it’s like pushing the garbage out through the window screen instead of the door. By consuming enough insoluble fiber we unlock the door to eliminate toxins from the body the easy and normal way.

Now you are probably wondering how much fiber we need to consume for optimal health benefits. According to research, the average wild chimpanzee consumes 300 grams of fiber per day! When I read that, I calculated how much fiber I consumed each day. I came up with only 3 grams, because I used to love juicing. Very often I would juice my fruits and vegetables rather than “waste’ my time and effort on chewing them. About thirty years ago, in the first books about juicing I read, I learned that fiber was not digestible, contained no nutrients, and served merely as a strain on the human intestinal tract. Since then juicing became one of my regular habits. I was proudly juicing for days, even weeks, trying to “cleanse” myself of toxins, and I considered myself to be maintaining a very healthy diet! I became astounded by the comparison of 300 grams with three. Moreover, I realized how harmful it was for my health when I consumed zero fiber by juicing all the time. I decided that I couldn’t afford to throw my fiber in the compost any more. Green smoothies are definitely superior to juices. Yet I still consider that juicing could contribute to health in specific situations.

Albert Mosseri, famous French doctor of Natural Hygiene, has radically changed the classical “Sheltonian” method of fasting on water. After supervising 4,000 long-term water fasts conducted at his clinic, he came to the extraordinary conclusion that long-term fasts were a “risky waste of time.” He now oversees much shorter water fasts followed by what he calls “half-fasts,” in which he introduces a limited amount of food rich in fiber in addition to water. During this important stage of healing, his patients receive only one pound of fruits and one pound of vegetables daily until their elimination is complete.26 Dr. Mosseri states that switching to this “half-fast” method has accelerated elimination to such a degree that 1.00% of his patients develop profound signs of a deep cleansing process in the form of a dark coating of their tongue, often charcoal black or dark brown.

Massive amounts of research on dietary fiber have been done all around the world since the beginning of the last century. We now have tons of undeniable evidence of fiber’s many healing properties. Here are some of them:

- Fiber can strengthen a diseased heart.
- Fiber reduces cholesterol which decreases the risk of heart disease.
- Fiber prevents many different kinds of cancer, reduces cancer risks and hinds carcinogens.
- Fiber can lessen the risk of diabetes and improve already diagnosed diabetes.
- Fiber steadies blood-sugar levels by slowing down the absorption of sugar.
- Fiber can strengthen the immune system.
- Fiber keeps our bowels healthy, relieves constipation, and promotes regularity
- Fiber prevents gallstones.
- Fiber promotes healthy intestinal bacteria.
- Fiber helps us lose weight and curbs overeating.
- Fiber binds up excess estrogen.
- Fiber prevents ulcers.

The U.S. recommended daily allowance for fiber is 30 grams per day The average American consumes between 10 and 15 grams of fiber per day. That is far from sufficient. Considering the fact that these 10 tiny grams of fiber would have to absorb and move out several huge pounds of waste matter, 10 grams is almost nothing. I think insufficient fiber intake is the main reason for aging in humans. Look at any animal that lives in the wild. One can hardly guess the age of a deer, zebra, eagle or giraffe. Whether they are at the age of two or fifteen years old, they look the same. Wild animals only begin to slow down during the last weeks before they die. On the other hand, it is often easy to guess the age of humans, down to five years. At the same time, I have seen many people who looked younger upon improving their elimination.

I believe we should consume 50 to 70 grams of fiber per day or more. However, we have to increase the intake of fiber gradually. It can be dangerous to switch overnight from 10 grams to 70.

Many of our bodies have degenerated over the decades due to the consumption of processed foods. In addition, we have adopted many unnatural practices like lack of exercise and spending most of the time indoors. Therefore, we need to reintroduce healthy habits into our life slowly to give our body time to readjust. Green smoothies are perfect for this gradual shift. Other sources of fiber and especially fiber in the pill form can often create too drastic of an increase of fiber in one’s diet too fast and can result in a bloated feeling and increased gas. Such unpleasant side effects can cause people to give up before they even get a chance to experience the health benefits of fiber.

Fiber is an important component in the diets of chimpanzees. As I noted, they consume 300 grams of fiber per day. In addition to eating many fiber-rich fruits and leaves, they supplement their diet with pith and bark, both of which consist of approximately 44% fiber.

Flaxseed is a perfect addition to the human diet. Flaxseed is very high in both soluble fiber and insoluble fiber. It. contains 26% fiber (14% soluble, 12% insoluble). Just 1/8 cup of flaxseed contains 6 grams of fiber.

I recommend adding flaxseed to your diet regularly. Flaxseeds have a tough outer coating and should be freshly ground in order to receive the most nutritional benefit. You can grind whole seeds with a coffee grinder or in a Vita Mix dry container. I recommend adding one or two tablespoons of ground flax meal to your salads, soups or smoothies. Flaxseed is also a good source of omega-3 fatty acids, and it is by far nature’s richest source of plant lignin, an important anti-cancer phytonutrient.

My family has been intuitively adding flaxseed to our meals every day either in the form of crackers or as flax meal. Igor has perfected a method for dehydrating flax crackers to such a degree that he knows how to make his crackers taste like pumpernickel, or sourdough toast, or everyone’s favorite Russian caraway bread. If you learn to make crackers like Igor, you will never be lonely and you will have plenty of fiber, nature’s sponge, in your diet.