Ashley Moran wrote:

> On Aug 16, 2005, at 10:06 pm, Mike Weis wrote:
>
>> I don't remember where I read this, but the argument goes something
>> like
>> this:
>>  On a diet of mostly meat and fat, fiber is completely unecessary
>> in the
>> human diet, as our digestive systems are 100% capable of digesting
>> even raw,
>> unchewed meat and fat.
>>  Maybe I saw this here on the list. I don't really worry too much
>> about
>> fiber, to be honest, because I notice that the less of it I eat,
>> the more
>> "regular" I am. It's when I start eating all those fancy foods that my
>> insides get all weird.
>>  Mike W.
>>
>
>
> I will agree with this.  I used to get occasional bouts of
> constipation which would last several days- often when I was eating a
> lot of wholemeal bread.  The fibre is grains isn't fibre at all- to
> use the now old-fashioned term, it's roughage.  Like digesting
> sandpaper and iron filings.  These days, I can eat virtually all meat
> with no trouble at all.
>
> Ashley
>
It's important to note the difference between the insoluble fiber in
stuff like whole-grains and dry beans, and the soluble fiber in fruits
and green vegetables. The health benefits of the latter are better
established. In either case, the government recommended amounts are
probably excessive and only necessary to make up for deficiencies
elsewhere (For example, whatever it is we are eating that is causing
colon cancer... the more fiber we eat the faster we get it out. So, that
stuff, whatever it is, doesn't stay in our colons doing damage to the
cells... but that's just speculation.)