Choosing a Fiber Supplement - Organic Flax Wins Hands Down By Charles Volcalatte At Isnare.com Ezine Articles

Flax vs. Psyllium

Fiber is one of the necessary nutrients our body needs everyday. It plays a significant role in staying healthy and be free of sickness. In the past, most people choose psyllium as their daily fiber supplement. But now most people are referring to flax as their daily fiber supplement.

Experts reports showed the reason behind this change:
1. Flax maintains the soluble and insoluble content of the body in check. Resulting to a healthier equilibrium of the two.
2. Flax keeps our cell bodies healthy by its content of anti-oxidant lignans. Psyllium lacks this nutrient.
3. Flax does not disrupt the digestions natural flow. Psyllium on the other hand causes some people indigestion leading to constipation.

1. The Natural Balance Advantage

In a balanced meal you should be able to consume at least 25 – 40 grams of dietary fibers. Vegetables, fruits and well-chosen grains would be a good source of a full healthy meal. Each dietary meal you take should consist of about 25 percent of soluble fiber and 75 percent of insoluble fiber. Flax-rich diet gives you a better chance of attaining that necessary balance in (25-35%) soluble and (65-75%) insoluble fiber. While Psyllium-rich diet contains the reverse amount of fibers—20 percent insoluble fiber and 80 percent of soluble fiber. Even though both flax and psyllium contains the necessary fibers, flax is able to give a more proper percentage of both soluble and insoluble fibers.

2. The Lignan Advantage

Lignan is a chemical compound found in plants, mainly in flax seeds. It has estrogen-like chemicals that acts as anti-oxidant when absorbed by the body. Psyllium however lacks on this. Some nutritionist claimed lignan is one of the main reason why flax is better than psyllium. And due to its high anti-oxidant content, lignans may be able to counteract the occurrence of some types of cancer.

As studies have shown that flax contains a very potent dose of lignans than most plants. Making the point of why flax is preferred by most dieters and nutritionists. Lignans is also beneficial to the digestive system. As this chemical enters the system it adheres with the toxins in the body before they can cause any harmful effect. Lignan appears to have endless benefits for our body, furthermore lignan helps promote better protection from sickness and keeps the digestive pathways clear and unblocked.

3. The Health Advantage

Some studies stated that flax may cause stomachaches but no proof of this reports have been found yet. While for psyllium there have been several reports about its unhealthy side-effects. As stated above, psyllium contains a very high soluble fiber content (80%).

At this high water is easily absorbed by the psyllium husks. And if you are not careful, you might end up dehydrated and suffering from intestinal problems. The psyllium absorbent nature makes it preferred by ice cream maker to retain its thickness. It is also sometimes used to help to grow grass.

Whichever dietary plant you conclude on using in your diet it is essentially the amount of fiber, which should be at least 25-40 grams per day, that should you take into consideration first.

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