“Fiber-starved mice were also meaner and more difficult to handle.” Wonder if this applies to humans, too? If so, can we start sneaking fiber into everyone’s diet for the good of Western society?
My issue with western diet is how West is West? Where are the boundaries? Does that mean that the North-South axis doesn’t matter? How about South West? And then do astronauts in the international Space station have a Space diet? Is that bad? So let’s presume we all live in the West. And we all eat food. Some will eat fried chicken and others will eat spinach and salmon salad. Are we all in the same boat of eating a Western diet? And does eating rice every day make you an easterner? So many questions.
I think what they are getting is is the average western diet has reduced fiber a great deal and this has had a hitherto unknown side effect. The idea being those that do eat enough fiber won't have this problem. I assume there is a range thats "enough" but what is it, thats also unanswered so far. Now whether its enough just to add back the fiber or do we need to make more drastic changes is probably unanswered at this point though the article takes some stabs at answering it. And how much, maybe we need 100-500g of fiber a day? More fiber may be enough but it may also be that we need less starch, less fried oil, less low nutrient and processed food and more vegetables on top of the fiber, and maybe even a fecal transplant to start the fixing process, we don't know.
More drastic action may be required depending on the state of an individual's microbiome. Processed food ' s impact now coming home to roost. Eat your veg! Generally it' s an afterthought for many. ( Though not ,i suspect , too many here) Recent analysis of low carb ( piopppi style) showed it was higher in fibre , due to veg, nuts etc than many expected - over 30g/ day. I think this was in the parliamentary presentation by Dr Aseem Malhotra Obviously it depends on being careful with food choice. Too many people don't think about what they eat, or fall for the low fat/ high sugar mantra that seems to have played a part in getting us to where we are re diet and health . Psyllium husk is good for fibre. A friend of my son' s on an elimination diet used this at suggestion of doctor and it helped a lot. After ten months with issues with dairy and gluten ( mainly linked to stress of final year at uni) , diet is non restricted now.
If one starts in London and keeps going West, he will end in China. We know that no further travel is possible, as it is at the bottom of a hole dug to China. China is thus the Westest of all West.
When my son was young we were referred to a psychiatrist who looked at food allergies. It was the time when additives were being removed from sweets and so on. He was very good (I know!) and it made a difference to my son's behaviour when we checked ingredients. This doctor had done a series of experiments on diet at a local young offenders institution and had found that a balanced healthy diet had a significant effect on reoffending. Unfortunately, he was well into his 60s and retired soon after and the research just faded away. It was probably too expensive to feed the prisoners what he suggested. I doubt if diet is the whole story though.