The History of Fiber

At one time before farming occurred and animals were domesticated, our ancestors wandered around, eating berries, fruits, root vegetables and any plant that promised to have some nutrition. The diet contained 50-100 grams of fiber a day, all of it from plant material. Interestingly, one of the best studied prebiotics fibers, inulin, has been found in over 36,000 plants, so these people were eating a lot of this beneficial fiber.

Then came villages with farming, growing grains, and raising livestock. Fiber intake gradually diminished. Furthermore, in Westernized countries, fiber was removed from the grains as it was felt to be useless. We were left with white bread without fiber and many of the minerals and vitamins. The food industries also began boxing and packaging food products in ways that required further changes to basic foods . Many substances were added to prolong shelf life and enhance taste but they did not contribute to health as far as we knew. High fructose corn syrup was found to be as sweet as sugar and replaced it in many drinks and foods, as it was much cheaper. This corn derivative and other sweeteners were used in many products and have resulted in or are associated with the epidemic of obesity we now see in our society. Food fiber was side-lined as an important factor in the diet.