The restructuring of federal nutrition guidelines within the United States has prioritized certain food groups over others. This hasn’t been the first time certain foods have been elevated as benefiting a person’s overall health, but once again, the over-prioritization is once again likely to lead to millions of Americans gaining preventative diseases later in life.
Fiber has become increasingly important, especially in America. Illnesses and other medical issues surrounding the digestive system, alongside vitamin deficiencies, have increased, with patients getting younger and younger each year. This is made worse by the prioritization of protein in an average American’s diet, a food group that often requires more energy to digest.
While protein is an essential food group to have, for far too long, Americans have undersold the importance of including or even increasing fiber intake in their daily meals. Fiber helps the general health of a person’s digestive system and ensures that the body will be able to better absorb the necessary foods a person eats.
Many of these fiber-rich foods, like vegetables, oats, and chia seeds, have been historically hard for people to want to consume due to taste, high prices, and extensive preparation requirements. Other foods like beans and lentils are often regarded as mainly for the poor or overlooked due to being prevalent in non-white cultures.
There should be more effort to bring awareness towards fiber-rich foods from the government. Countless creators online have a multitude of easy recipes to follow, but for people who are clueless around cooking, it’s hard to know where and how to start. At the end of the day, the stigma against these foods needs to end.
