Dr. Eades wrote up a discussion highlighting the religion that has been built around fibre and its ‘net result’ earlier this year – worth a read: http://www.proteinpower.com/drmike/uncategorized/a-cautionary-tale-of-mucus-fore-and-aft/

Danny Roddy drew upon that post and also an interview with Lex Rooker, plus relevant sections of Gary Taubes’ Good Calories, Bad Calories in his own post analysing the apparent necessity of fibre: http://www.carnivorehealth.com/main/2009/4/17/screw-you-fiber.html

I tend to wonder whether the observed benefits of fibre consumption are in the same category as the benefits of vegetarianism, exercise, or supplement consumption – the fact that those individuals who are including the ‘healthy’ choice in their lifestyle are also the ones who aren’t smoking, drinking, eating McDonalds… etc. It’s what they AREN’T doing that is more important than they fact they ARE doing whatever the ‘healthy’ activity of interest.

Looking at those ‘benefits’ of fibre also has me wondering whether we’re reading them incorrectly…

1. I don’t know anything about cholecystokinin, but if it tells us that we’re full once fibre enters our system, couldn’t that be a built-in mechanism of our bodies to get us to STOP eating fibrous foods? Perhaps we evolved to physiologically know that too much vegetation will mean to much anti-nutrient or phyto-toxin entering our system?

2. The ‘gut scouring effect’ – why do we need that? Having lived on an all-meat diet, I know that in the absolute absence of fibre, our guts can run perfectly well, smoothly, and empty as completely as possible (especially if we squat rather than sit on conventional toilets). To send insoluble fibre down there just ends up with intestinal irritation (demonstrated by stool mucus production, the body’s response to “get this damaging crap away from my delicate intestinal walls!”), and fermentation – i.e. flatulence. Again, if we’re eating processed foods, maybe sending the equivalent of steel wool through our guts may help to clean out chemicals (although they’ve probably been absorbed by the liver or packed into fat cells at that point). But why would we assume we need to do that? Other carnivorous animals (i.e. dogs and cats) only consume roughage to vomit it back up again, so they obviously don’t need a thorough internal scrub, and our systems are similar to theirs – especially in that we don’t have the digestive systems required to fully digest and ferment fibre for fuel, as you state.

While it may be helpful for dieters who are out of touch with their own satiety indicators and have to depend on stuffing themselves with bulky low-cal foods to prevent over-eating, I think it’s important to consider the negative effects and lack of necessity of fibre before espousing to the world that it’s the #1 change to make if you want to improve your health and lose weight.

- Dave