You can significantly reduce your risk of getting many of the chronic diseases that plague our times by including more dietary fiber in your diet. These diseases include coronary heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, type 2 diabetes, colorectal cancer, and breast cancer.  An enormous new study in the prestigious medical journal, Lancet, showed a 15-30 percent reduction in cardiovascular-disease and all-cause mortality in people who got the most fiber versus those who got the least.  Those study participants who ate the most fiber, versus those that ate the least, reduced their risk of stroke by 22 percent, their risk of type 2 diabetes or colorectal cancer by 16 percent, and their risk of death from coronary heart disease by 30 percent Interestingly, fiber was also found to be a better way to control spikes in blood sugar after eating than eating a low-glycemic diet.  And although a low-glycemic diet also reduced the risk of getting type…

If you plan to live to a ripe old age, you’ll want your bones to be good for the long haul. Unfortunately, according to the National Osteoporosis Foundation, about half our population over the age of fifty is “cruisin’ for a bruisin’”—a bone fracture due to either osteoporosis, a disease in which bones become thin, weak and prone to fracture, or “low bone density,” a condition in which bones have become thin, weak and prone to fracture to a somewhat lesser degree. There are some risk factors for osteoporosis that you can’t do anything about—age, gender (a woman’s risk of developing osteoporosis is four times greater than a man’s), genetics, being thin and small boned, and either Asian or blond and fair-skinned—but you can still maintain healthy bones for a life with the right care. Last week we talked about bone health supplementation and getting the “complete team” of nutrients needed with Beyond…

If you’re reading this, you probably care about your health and try to eat a good diet. But more than 95 percent of the US population isn’t getting enough of this often neglected nutrient: fiber, and that very likely includes you! The indigestible portion of plant foods, fiber goes far beyond improving digestion and elimination. Fiber is responsible for creating a healthy environment in your gut so that healthy bacteria (probiotics) can flourish and pathogenic bacteria and other bad guys like yeasts and parasites are held in check.  The conglomeration of good and bad bugs in your gut is called your microbiome. Without enough fiber, you get a sick microbiome; without a healthy microbiome, you get a sick body. It’s that simple. Without adequate fiber all types of disease thrive, including constipation, diverticulitis, gallstones, hemorrhoids, polyps, cancer, diabetes, obesity, metabolic syndrome, varicose veins, high cholesterol, heart disease, obesity, depression and…