2 studies: Fibre & indigestion
Good morning, everyone. Back again, 2026. Hope you got a good start to the week. If not, make today that better start. So two studies I wanna mention today.
Speaker 1:One's on fiber, one's on bloating. I know you an up steps to upset some stomach and stuff like that. So you will see on social media a lot of content on gut bloating and magical fixes, magical juices, and stuff like that to fix these things. Just one thing will fix everything, you know, that you see a lot of that. But first of all, let me just stop with fiber.
Speaker 1:Fiber is like if you were to rank, know, we're ranking the things of importance in terms of weight management. We've got calorie deficit, protein resistance training. But if you want to add another one, it'd be fiber 100%. Fiber is amazing. And there's so much studies on fiber.
Speaker 1:Now there's a very user study I'm going mention now is an umbrella review. So it's a systematic review on systematic reviews, which means it's basically a lot of insight into a lot of studies, looking at a lot of studies on fiber, observational in nature, so it's like millions of people. And it's basically the strongest type of evidence we have now to see in the benefits of fiber over a large population size. And then there's other studies like randomized control trials, bit harder to do smaller sizes. But really, this gives us a real good indication on, okay, what the benefits of fiber are.
Speaker 1:So they wanted really to see really what the actual convincing benefits of a higher fiber intake was essentially. That's what they looked at. And to skip all the information you don't really need to listen to, so I'm gonna give you the results. So the risk of developing pancreatic cancer was convincingly lower for those who ate a fiber rich diet compared to with a low fiber diet. So the convincing evidence class one, these put these as cardiovascular disease mortality risk went down, pancreatic cancer risk went down.
Speaker 1:And in highly suggestive evidence, all cause mortality, coronary heart disease and ovarian cancer, and then suggestive evidence is like a bit less called, they're not too sure, but it seems so to help is type two diabetes, metabolic syndrome and stroke. So you think those are amazing benefits. But it is true also that people who eat a high fiber diet are probably eating a diet higher in fruits and vegetables and and whole grains and maybe more like Mediterranean type diet, maybe. Because it's observational, it's like we don't know exactly what else they're doing in their life. But looking at 17,000,000 people and seeing this is quite convincing.
Speaker 1:And the benefits are, right, they were eaten between 25 to 35 grams of fiber a day, and ninety percent of Americans fail to reach this number, probably the same for people in The UK and stuff as well. So how do we get better at this? You know, how do we get more fiber? I just checked my fiber and my average fiber intake over the last, god, six months or so has been 26 grams. So I'm not really tracking it, but I love a pair.
Speaker 1:Right? So and a pair, let me tell you, is big on fiber. It's got six grams of fiber per pear, and I love sometimes two or three pairs a day. I'm already hitting 18 grams of fiber from my pears. An apple has four grams.
Speaker 1:One cup of blackberries or raspberries has eight grams. So in American terms, it's a cup, but in our terms, it's probably, I don't know, like, a 100 grams, 200 grams. Half a cup of black beans, seven grams, half an avocado, seven grams. So, look, if you had half an avocado and you'd like that for breakfast, then you have one or two pairs a day and then everything else you eat will probably have some fight, but you're you're probably doing you know, you're probably doing it. You're probably doing it easily there.
Speaker 1:And I think that's the main thing to do with the fight, but it's not to overly worry about it. Just make it a consequence of eating better in general in terms of whole grains and vitamins and minerals and high fruit intake and it's job done. So, you know, I'm reading these benefits thinking, oh my God, that's amazing. My low in fiber, increasing your fiber is only going to help. It's going to help with your digestion.
Speaker 1:It's going to help with your feeling of fullness. It's going to help with your stool. It's going to help with a lot of things. So I wanted to put that out there because that's a recent umbrella, review on fiber. And I think it's very, I mean, it's it's very interesting and I think we've known about fiber for a long time.
Speaker 1:But check where your fiber is, add a few pairs, job done. Next one, what anti bloating diet wins? You know, what anti bloating diet actually works? So dyspezia or dyspezia depends on whatever accent you have, which is also known as indigestion, pretty much affects all of us to a certain degree, would say. So you got upper pain, burning, nausea, stuff like that.
Speaker 1:The discomfort is so frustrating. And it can sometimes lead people into this like detective work on how to stop it, Because it's so uncomfortable. Like, I've had it before when I've tried to go to the gym and I'm so uncomfortable with my bloating and stuff. Like, I have to go home. I can't train.
Speaker 1:I remember going to work once when I was working back in Bristol about ten years ago, and I thought I was watching some YouTube channel like before some some bodybuilder, and he was eating this big bowl of, like, veggies and stuff. And at the time, I was trying to do this, like, bodybuilding competition type of thing. Yeah. I know. Fatima, I got mental.
Speaker 1:And he was eating his massive bowl of veggies. Right? Then I was like, well, maybe I should eat a big bowl of veggies because, you know, I'm quite hungry. Like, so I ate a huge bowl of veggies and my chicken, but I wasn't used to eating all of our vegetables. And, oh my, it it crippled me because it's hard to digest all our vegetables.
Speaker 1:It crippled me. Like, I was in pain half a day. I couldn't oh my god. And I realized, you can't just throw a massive amount of veggies in your stomach when you're not used to. You can't throw all this stuff and volume into your stomach and I'd say, hey, stomach, go and break all that down for me.
Speaker 1:You know, you gotta be you know, the changes have gotta be gradual in a sense. You can't if you do a big change and stuff, it might not work. So a lot of the things you think that will be great for you can sometimes impact your stomach. Do know mean? It's not always like, oh, I've had a pizza.
Speaker 1:Well, obviously, you know, high fat, high carb foods, there's a lot of volume is probably gonna upset upset yourself like a bit. And it's often not just one food. So a lot of people lose one food or this and this magic juice is not. So this study, Iranian and Canadian researchers collaborated on the systematic review. They're looking at the relationship between dietary patterns of Mediterranean diet, vegetarian diet, Western diets, and the DASH diet.
Speaker 1:So the DASH diet was developed by researchers to help people manage high blood pressure. Can also help people lose weight or lower blood cholesterol and reduce the risk of type two diabetes, cancer, many other things. So it's a common diet people look into. So they looked at randomized controlled trials looking at seven thirty nine people in The US. They looked at four observational studies, and they looked at the bias and stuff, right?
Speaker 1:So when they ranked the studies, six out of the seven studies was high risk of bias due to various issues. So they weren't blinding the subjects. You know, the quality of the research was not great. Only And one observational study scored for low risk and bias. So a quality assessment right off the bat, the studies out there, they're looking at not great, not great right now.
Speaker 1:But what they do see that they concluded does have moderately quality evidence is that a protein or fat rich diet likely worsens likely worsens in digestion. And I think like, you know, we talk about high protein. We talk about protein being great. I know a lot of people have messaged me before, like, I can't eat high protein. I can't it's fine.
Speaker 1:The protein targets we give you, the reason that we ask you what your estimated body fat percentage is looking at images of what the body fat percentages are is because your protein target should be based on your lean body mass, not your total weight. Because if it's based on your total weight, someone who's got a lot of fat on them will have a massive protein target, but there's not needed because it's about your lean body mass, your lean tissue, muscle and stuff like that. So we factor in your estimated body fat percentage. So your protein target and someone mentioned it the other day, my protein target is a bit lower than my usual one. Well, it's lower because we're actually basing it off lean body mass, which is the accurate way people don't recommend.
Speaker 1:So one of the top protein researchers, was on Instagram and he recommended, you know, 1.6 grams of protein per kilo of weight. And I just DM'd him saying, hey, is there a reason why, you know, you don't, know, mentioning per kilo of lean body mass here? And he was like, most people don't know their lean body mass. And I said, well, is it not just better to assume that people have a certain percentage of body fat then? So like, obviously men will have at least most men will have an average of at least 15 to 20% body fat, and most women are probably 30 to 35% body fat on average.
Speaker 1:So why don't we assume everyone's 30% body fat or 20% for men, 30% for women? At least then that is making the protein target more realistic. And he was like, yeah, yeah, that's probably a good shout, but it's just easier to say total weight. And it's fine. But for people that have maybe digestion issues or can't go high protein stress people out, It's giving people stressful high target when higher there is benefits of going higher than the targets we give slightly.
Speaker 1:But I think it's important to note like maybe we have been saying protein target is to be high. And for some of you, if you redo the questionnaire, you can get the protein based on your lean body mass. That's the reality where you need to be. And if you go higher is an additional bonus, but it might help some of you with some, you know, gut issues if it is related to the protein more likely is related to the fat rich diets that can worsen symptoms in susceptible people, by the way, not just if you're feeling good and fine, don't worry about it. But if you are feeling for plot is off, maybe look at that first off fat, then look at protein.
Speaker 1:But yeah, it's it seems that fat is the main culprit. And the other outcome of this and it's classic, a lot of you would have seen this in many studies, the Mediterranean diet likely reduces the risk of indigestion by fifty nine percent. The Mediterranean diet people, you know, there's some a lot of research on the benefits of it. And the reason for the benefits of the Mediterranean diet is that it's just got a lot of quality in it in terms of quality fats, quality carbs. It's got fiber, healthy fats, antioxidants, protein, it helps to regulate gut bacteria because of all the rich plant based foods.
Speaker 1:And it's gonna just, yeah, it's just we know over God knows how many years that this type of diet is good. And when it comes to weight loss, it doesn't actually win out in the studies. But in terms of like, which, if we have to pick a type of diet that's got the most kind of nutraceutical we need, Mediterranean is a good base, basically. But we all know this. This is like basics, like obviously having healthy fats, vegetables in our diet, quality fruits is going to be great.
Speaker 1:It's not breaking news. It's just that we don't really follow it too much. And you don't need to be rigid with it. But if you have certain digestion issues or you feel like you should look into, you know, what is my lunch looking like? Is it like a Greg sausage roll?
Speaker 1:Like, it at opacity. If it's into your calorie target, great. But like, is it giving you some uncomfort? These are things you have to second order effects you have to think about. And I think about that now.
Speaker 1:It's like, don't actually think about, oh, should I have, the pizza based on have I got more calories? You're like, yes or no. I really base it on like, okay, like, from my past experience, if the night before I have a takeaway, especially Indian or Chinese or pizza, The next day when I go and train jujitsu, I'm very uncomfortable. So I don't care. Oh, wow.
Speaker 1:Calories. Yeah. Whatever. I'm desensitized to that. You know?
Speaker 1:Like, I'm I'm playing averages, and it'll I'll work it out. For me, it's the uncomfort I feel the next day. And that's my discovery of myself. It's not that those foods are bad. For some people, they're fine.
Speaker 1:They can handle it. It's just that for me, it gives me discomfort, and it's something for you guys to think about over time as well. But that's it. Last thing I'll actually say it's more than what you eat in this time. Stress and sleep and stuff is linked to it.
Speaker 1:It's not just about the food you eat in. I think a lot of people so a a a lot a lot of people are, like, saying this is food. It's not just the food. It's not just the food. There's a lot of your lifestyle goes around on it.
Speaker 1:So have a look. Drink more water and stuff like that. But, anyway, back to what you should be doing today. If you haven't tracked yet, track today. If you haven't tracked yesterday or day before, you can literally just go on the app, go back the previous day, voice note, job done.
Speaker 1:It's so easy now. There is no excuse to track in. You don't have to be perfect. Please be imperfect on this journey is gonna destroy you because you'll quit and you'll let go and you think what's the point in it all. You don't have to be perfect for results.
Speaker 1:We've got tens of thousands of data points in this, and you don't have to be perfect with your login. Awareness is enough for most of you over time, and then you make different decisions based on that. So focus on be making progress today, not perfection. And, maybe go for a walk. It's sunny in London.
Speaker 1:Go for a walk, get your steps in.
