The Fiber Revolution – Finally, Fiber Balance Has Arrived
Well, at long last, it’s finally here. After months of research and development we’re excited to announce the release of our new product, Integrated Supplements Fiber Balance.
You’ll find that Fiber Balance is a fiber supplement quite unlike any other on the market today; it’s a
• Fine Powder, not gritty
• Mixes smooth and creamy
• Tastes great
•Contains a full 10 grams of fiber per serving
•Supplies a balanced blend of fiber from five different sources.
We’re proud to say that there’s no other fiber supplement out there which can make all of these claims.
But as proud as we are to have created the world’s first great-tasting, smooth-mixing, and balanced fiber supplement, we at Integrated Supplements know that there is still much work left to be done.
You see, creating a deliciously smooth and creamy fiber supplement is only the beginning. The next challenge for us will be to educate large numbers of people on just how important dietary fiber is to optimal health.
But luckily, this message isn’t ours alone.
Fiber and Heart Disease
Some of the largest public health agencies in the country have, for decades, practically begged Americans to consume more fiber in their diet. The American Heart Association, for example, knows just how important fiber is for reducing cholesterol and heart disease risk, and they recommend that the majority of us consume 28 grams of fiber daily (for a 2,000 calorie diet).
http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=4574
Fiber and Diabetes
The American Diabetes Association knows just how significantly dietary fiber can help keep our blood sugar levels within a healthy range, and they also recommend 28 grams daily.
http://spectrum.diabetesjournals.org/cgi/content/full/20/1/49
And it’s interesting to note that amounts higher than this have been shown to be even more beneficial for blood sugar control in diabetics:
http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/short/342/19/1392
Fiber and Weight Loss
And as epidemic levels of obesity have become not just an American, but a worldwide problem, even international health organizations have begum to beat the drum for dietary fiber. In a 2003 report, the World Health Organization concluded that dietary fiber was the only dietary component that had “Convincing Evidence” showing a protective effect against weight gain and obesity.
Even the US Food and Drug Administration, an agency which is known for being extremely conservative in allowing disease claims for foods (and nutritional supplements,) realizes how important fiber is for our public health. They’ve opened the door to allow food companies to make specific health claims regarding the intake of certain types of fiber and the risk of diseases such as heart disease or cancer.
As a result, some of the largest food manufacturers in this country are now able to promote their products with specific (yet qualified) claims such as “Oatmeal Lowers Cholesterol” or even “Oatmeal May Reduce The Risk of Heart Disease.”
And when big businesses like those in the food industry are allowed to make claims such as these, you can be sure that they have the advertising dollars to pump their message into every newspaper magazine and television set in the country. The food industry, probably more than any other entity, has the power to make the benefits of fiber well known to every man, woman, and child in America.
So, for decades, the most prestigious medical authorities, the highest-level government organizations, and the largest corporations in the food industry have all “joined forces” to promote dietary fiber.
And they’re preaching the gospel of fiber to what should be a very captive audience. Heart disease, diabetes, cancer, and obesity have all reached epidemic levels in this country, and never before in history has there been a society so health-obsessed, or so cognizant of the role of diet in preventing degenerative disease.
One could hardly conceive of a better setup to win Americans over to a high-fiber diet than the combination of:
• Conclusive scientific evidence of fiber’s benefits
• Expert recommendations from medical professionals and health organizations.
• Regulatory assistance by the FDA in allowing specific disease claims for certain types of fiber in foods
• Massive spending by the food industry to promote the benefits of their fiber-containing products.
But the question remains: has this alliance succeeded?
Well, the statistics say no. In fact, surprisingly, the end result of this multi-pronged approach to promote dietary fiber to the masses has been pitiful to say the least.
Various surveys and studies have consistently shown that Americans know that fiber is good for them, this much of the message has gotten through, but fiber still remains largely a mystery to the majority of Americans – they don’t know exactly what it is, how much they need, or exactly where to find it.
And more importantly, the bottom line is that despite the fiber-cheerleading echoed by medical authorities, health organizations, government, and private industry, Americans currently consume less fiber than ever before; and as a DIRECT result, Americans also eat more, weigh more, and suffer increased incidences of the diet-related disorders previously mentioned like heart disease, diabetes, and cancer.
Studies published in the Archives of Internal Medicine indicate that 90% of Americans still don’t eat even the bare minimum amount of fiber recommended each day to support good health, and some studies have even estimated this number to be closer to 95%!
And even more frightening is the fact that most of us aren’t even coming close to getting the fiber we need. It’s been shown that the average American consumes only 8-12 grams of fiber per day, an amount which isn’t even half of the 25 grams per day recommended by the FDA.
To give some perspective on just how much the addition of fiber to our diet could benefit our health, just think about the reverse process. Think about what the health-effects have been as our diet has had its fiber removed:
As the fiber in our food supply has steadily decreased throughout the twentieth, and into the twenty-first century, not only have our levels of diet-related disorders increased steadily, but also, our overall caloric consumption has skyrocketed; and it seems to be increasing at an almost exponential pace. Would you believe that in the year 2000 that the average American ate 300 more calories per day versus the average American in 1985? This amounts to a whopping 100,000-plus extra calories per year, an amount which is almost guaranteed to cause significant weight gain and numerous accompanying health-challenges.
It’s the Fiber
So, as we mentioned earlier, we at Integrated Supplements know that we’ve got our work cut out for us. It’s up to us to succeed where so many others have failed, in both educating people on the incredible health-effects of dietary fiber, AND in giving them the tools they need to actually take in healthy amounts of fiber each day.
At Integrated Supplements we realized early on in our research that the human body simply cannot be healthy without sufficient dietary fiber. We also quickly found out that with 90% to 95% of Americans not meeting their fiber requirements, and with all that fiber has to offer our health, that dietary fiber is both the single most widespread and the single most deadly dietary deficiency we face in our country today. And we simply feel that any supplement company who ignores these facts, and who doesn’t step up to the plate and attack the fiber problem head-on is doing you a grave disservice.
And that’s exactly why we created Fiber Balance.
From the initial feedback we’ve been getting, we feel that Fiber Balance is just the tool people have been waiting for to easily and even enjoyably bridge their “fiber gap.”
People love its smooth and creamy texture, and they love the fact that Fiber Balance mixes easily in water, juice, milk, yogurt – almost anything!
The people taking it are noticing less hunger, increased energy, and are having a much easier time taking in fewer calories – even without consciously “dieting.”
We like to think of Fiber Balance as our secret weapon protecting us from the constant temptation of "less-than-optimal" foods.
It’s so simple, and yet so powerful.
And it could be big. REALLY BIG.
If you’d like to learn more about the benefits of fiber, or about how and why we created Fiber Balance, you can listen to the latest version of the Integrated Supplements Audio Series, The Fiber Revolution, here.
You can take a look at Fiber Balance here
And you can take a look at the first installment of our Fiber Balance Q & A here.
And in future Blog entries we’ll continue blast some of the myths that have surrounded dietary fiber and fiber supplements for far too long – myths which have been downright hazardous to our health.
Stay tuned, and in the meantime, tell a friend. This is after all the Fiber Revolution.
