Need more ways to get enough fiber in your diet? Need more energy? You’re not alone! Fortunately, these two health desires go hand-in-hand. In fact, when you include high fiber foods in your diet, you can improve digestion. Then, better digestion improves many aspects of life, including energy.

Ready to start? Try our Energizing Green High Fiber Smoothie today!

ENERGIZING GREEN HIGH FIBER SMOOTHIE

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup plain Greek yogurt or canned coconut milk
• 1 scoop Keto Zone® Fiber Zone
• 1 scoop Divine Health® Fermented Green Supremefood®
• 1 scoop Keto Zone® Hydrolyzed Collagen
• 1 tablespoon hemp heart seeds
• 1 stalk celery
• 1/2 cup strawberries (2-3 large)
• water and ice as needed for desired consistency

Instructions

Place all ingredients in a blender. Mix well. Make sure to add water as needed. Add ice to desired consistency. Drink immediately.

Makes one serving.

Nutrition info: 367 calories, 12 grams fat, 5 grams net carbs (29 grams carbohydrates, 24 grams fiber), 27 grams protein

What Can You Get in a Smoothie? 2 Types of Fiber

Our Energizing High-Fiber Green Smoothie contains fiber from Keto Zone® Fiber Zone and whole foods. This combination is great for digestive health. In fact, there are 2 primary fibers in the smoothie.

Inulin

Inulin is a prebiotic fiber. This means it feeds the healthy bacteria and cells in our digestive tracts. This is a good thing because gut bacteria need a healthy food source!

Inulin is found in many plants, like chicory root. Interestingly, human digestive tracts can’t break down and digest it. Therefore, inulin is not a nutritive carbohydrate (one that provides calories). Instead, inulin is consumed by healthy bacteria and converted into a short-chain fatty acid that further nourishes colon cells (1).

Psyllium Husk

Psyllium husk is made of both soluble (70%) and insoluble fibers (30%).  This means twice the benefits. Similar to inulin, the soluble fiber acts as a prebiotic, to feed and fortify healthy gut bacteria.

The insoluble fiber passes through the digestive tract, mostly intact. It provides bulk and softness to stools, subtle laxative effects, and can improve digestive health, in addition to other benefits of fiber (2).

Why Go High Fiber? Top 10 Health Benefits of Fiber

1. Improved Energy & Mood

As described in detail in this post, you can improve the health of many body systems by improving the health of your digestive system.

For one, when digestion is working well, your body delivers the nutrients it needs from foods to every system. This means better metabolism and better energy.

Incredibly, the consumption of high fiber and the resulting improvement in digestion also affects mood and mental health. The Microbiota-Gut-Brain Axis (the communication between the bacteria and hormones in the gut and the brain) can trigger emotional shifts, mood changes, anxious and depressed moods, and mental impairments (3, 4, 5, 6).

2. Great Bone Health

Bone health depends on the efficient absorption of vitamins and minerals, including calcium, vitamin K2, vitamin D, and magnesium.

Lab studies have found inulin improves the absorption of nutrients, resulting in improved bone density (7, 8).

What’s more, studies of children (ages 9-13) have shown better calcium absorption and bone mineralization when taking inulin (9, 10).

3. Weight Loss and Normalized Appetite

For those looking to lose weight, inulin and psyllium husk are great choices. Multiple studies show that high fiber can reduce intake and promote healthy weight changes (11, 12).

In fact, in one study the “inulin fiber group” lost 2 pounds while the control group gained one. While consuming 21 grams of inulin per day, the inulin group experienced lower hunger-hormone levels and increased fullness (13).

4. Optimal Blood Sugars and Improved Diabetes Control

For those with impaired blood glucose, several studies on inulin and psyllium husk suggest it may help optimize blood sugars (14, 15, 16, 17).

How?

First, as a fiber, it slows digestion to reduce blood sugar spikes.

Second, it has been shown to actually decrease fat in the livers of people with impairments (18). Reducing liver fat can reduce insulin resistance and may help reverse blood sugar issues (19).

What’s more, another study showed that 10 grams of inulin per day reduced fasting blood glucose by an average of 8.5% and hemoglobin A1C (HgbA1C) by an average of 10.5% (20).

5. Good Probiotic Colony Health & Reduced Constipation

Healthy gut bacteria is essential for overall health.

Both inulin and psyllium husk stimulate the growth of beneficial bacteria. When these bacteria proliferate, yeast overgrowth is inhibited, digestion improves, and the immune function benefits (21, 22).

Inulin and psyllium husk also decrease constipation, hemorrhoids, and other digestion issues.

Inulin relieves constipation with soluble fibers; psyllium does so with both soluble and insoluble fibers.

For example, one 4-week study found that 15 grams of inulin per day improved constipation in older adults (23).

Psyllium husk softens stools and increases stool bulk to reduce constipation and hemorrhoids.

6. Less Dietary Carbohydrates as Thickeners

Inulin improves the texture of manufactured foods.

You can use it in home cooking as well. Use inulin powder in low-carbohydrate recipes to thicken sauces, soups, condiments and more. Stir it into a warm liquid and continue stirring until slightly thickened.

7. Healthy Triglyceride and Cholesterol Levels

Psyllium husk and inulin are proven cholesterol reducers.

One study concluded that 6 weeks of psyllium intake resulted in lower cholesterol in obese and overweight participants (24).

What’s more, another study confirmed that 5 grams of psyllium three times daily for six weeks reduced triglycerides by 26%, compared to the placebo (25).

8. Optimal Blood Pressure

What about blood pressure? Studies have shown that high fiber and psyllium husk can support healthy blood pressure, too!

In fact, one study showed a diet with an additional 12 grams of fiber from psyllium reduced systolic blood pressure by 5.9 mm mercury in 36 participants with high blood pressure (26).

9. May Reduce Incidence of Colon Cell Overgrowth

Studies have reported inulin as an agent that reduces colon cell overgrowth.

A review of 12 animal studies found that 88% of the groups given inulin saw a reduction in pre-malignant colon growths (27).

In terms of human studies, one promising experiment showed that inulin caused the colon environment to be less favorable for cell overgrowth (28).

10. Less Loose Stools

Since fiber promotes reduced constipation, it’s sort of a wonder it can also improve diarrhea! Digestion is about “balance.” With the right amount of fiber, you should experience regularity without constipation or diarrhea.

How does it work?

The fibers absorb water, thereby reducing diarrhea and increasing stool softness and bulk (29, 30).

Support Digestion with Keto Zone

There are many ways the Keto Zone supports digestive health. They include:

• Keto Zone® Fiber Zone. This proprietary fiber supplement powder is formulated with both psyllium husk and inulin to support health as described above.
• Dr. Colbert Beyond Biotics™ is an excellent probiotic supplement with 12 billion healthy probiotic bacteria units. These units have been proven to encourage optimal digestive health in just 4 weeks! In fact, Beyond Biotics™ contains 3 clinically studied and tested probiotic strains consisting of 12 billion bacteria, supporting the immune response and natural defenses. If you want to encourage great health throughout your body, this is a great supplement.
• Dr. Colbert’s Healthy Gut Zone Plan. It will teach you, step-by-step, how to improve your digestive health, support your entire body, and encourage better brain function, alertness and health starting today! Join Dr. Colbert in his challenge to prioritize your gut health. It can make all the difference to health!
• Dr. Colbert’s Beyond Keto program combines Keto Zone and Mediterranean foods to support gut health! In fact, studies have found the Mediterranean diet specifically improves gut microbiota and its associated metabolism functions (31). Get started with Dr. Colbert’s Beyond Keto today and encourage digestive and whole-body health!

Bottom Line

Fiber is a great nutrient for whole body health. Keto Zone® Fiber Zone provides 2 effective types of fiber to support your body. Try our Energizing Green High Fiber Smoothie today and flood your body with nutrients that encourage all 10 fiber benefits!