Fiber also acts like a broom, scrubbing your digestive tract as it passes on through. This helps with smooth, regular bowel movements. Instead, fiber provides bulky material to help form stool that’s a healthy, comfortable consistency. But it’s not digested and absorbed into the bloodstream like other food compounds. Fiber is a carbohydrate that comes from food or from fiber supplements. In addition to needing bacteria, bile, and enzymes to work properly, your digestive system needs adequate fiber. The biliary system includes the liver, gall bladder, and pancreas.įun fact: The GI tract is teeming with living microorganisms or “gut flora.” These microscopic good bacteria are essential for helping to digest your food.ĭietary Fiber is Essential for Digestion! These deliver compounds that help break down your food. The biliary system provides bile and enzymes to the GI tract.The large intestine also absorbs vitamins, minerals, and water. These include amino acids, fatty acids, simple sugars, vitamins, minerals, and water. Your small intestine, the longest section, is where food nutrients are absorbed into the bloodstream. As you can imagine, this is where your food gets processed and digested. The GI tract is a series of connected organs that run from “top to bottom.” It’s made up of your mouth, esophagus, stomach, small intestine, large intestine, and anus.There are two main parts of theĭigestive system: the GI (gastrointestinal) tract and the biliary system. From top to bottom, your digestive system helps your body break down and absorb food to get the nutrition you need each day. But what is dietary fiber anyway, and why is it important to get enough?īefore we dive into all things fiber, let’s tour the amazing digestive system. Make your water work harder by adding Benefiber Original, a fiber supplement that dissolves completely in water.7% of Americans are getting enough fiber in their diets, according to a study of over 14,600 adults? That means the majority of us need to increase our fiber intake. Balancing Your Fiber and Water Intakeĭrinking water boosts your overall health, and combining that with a good dose of fiber can help you maintain a healthy digestive system. If you're dehydrated, then you may have a problem with constipation. The colon pulls water from stools to conserve water for the body.

After passing through the small intestine, the remaining material goes to the large intestine-also known as the colon. This process happens in the small intestine. Fiber from the food you eat absorbs water, which makes stools bulkier so they move faster and are easier to eliminate. How Water and Fiber Work in Digestionĭrinking water and ingesting fiber should go hand in hand. 2 Hydration is good for digestion, so be liberal about drinking water during meals or any other time you're thirsty. Drinking water doesn't interfere with digestion or dilute stomach juices-and water also softens stools. Water and Healthy DigestionĪlong with other liquids, gastric juices, and enzymes, water helps the digestive process so the body can absorb the nutrients. 1 Even though there are no official recommendations on how much water you should drink per day, drinking water at meals and whenever you're thirsty should help keep you on track.

You may have heard that people should drink eight glasses of water per day in fact, people should be getting between 91 to 125 fluid ounces of water per day consumed through food and beverages. About two-thirds of our body weight is water, and every cell needs water to survive.

Does fiber help digestion