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Five Fantastic Health Benefits of Psyllium Husk
When it comes to our health and well-being, not only should we pay attention to how we look on the outside, we should also try to emphasize keeping our insides nice and healthy in the process. Your digestive system for example, is indirectly responsible for a wide range of physiological processes within the body, so placing an emphasis on digestive health is well worth doing.To ensure you remain fit and healthy on the inside, specialist health supplements should be utilized. This brings us to Psyllium Husk. Psyllium Husk is one of the most popular and effective digestive health-related supplements currently on the market. Not only does it promote healthy digestive health, it also offers numerous other health benefits to its users. Here’s a look at five fantastic health benefits of Psyllium Husk.
Can promote weight loss – If you’re looking to drop a few pounds and lose weight, Psyllium Husk is actually very beneficial. Obtained from the seeds of a plant native to India known as the Plantago Ovata plant, Psyllium is actually a type of fiber. There are two types of fiber: soluble fiber and insoluble fiber. Insoluble fiber cannot be broken down in the stomach/digestive tract, whereas soluble fiber can. Soluble fiber breaks down in water and forms a thick paste with a gel-like texture. This paste then expands in the stomach and coats the stomach lining, helping to keep you feeling full for longer. This is important because the longer you feel full, the less hungry you will become. If you aren’t hungry, you won’t crave more food, and you won’t eat more food, so keeping your calories in a deficit to promote weight loss will become much easier.
Great for constipation – If you’ve ever suffered from constipation before, you’ll know just how painful the condition is, and how awful it can make you. Constipation is basically a condition resulting in a person not being able to pass stools to make a bowel movement, or if they do, the stools are hard and very painful to pass. Psyllium Husk supplements however, are ideal for anybody suffering with constipation. Again, as they are a great form of fiber, they help to add bulk to the stools. That’s not all however, to enable you to pass the stool, the soluble fiber, which becomes a gel in the presence of water, is absorbed into the stool and helps to soften it. This makes it much easier, and far less-painful to pass.
Regulates blood glucose levels – High blood sugar levels can result in diabetes, and this is a condition that nobody wants to suffer from. Psyllium Husk supplements have been found to help regulate blood sugar levels in the human body, thereby helping to avoid pre-diabetes, and diabetes itself. You see, after we consume carbohydrates, blood sugar levels increase, resulting in a spike in insulin levels. Too much insulin can result in unstable blood sugar levels. Consuming simple carbohydrates and sugars will only exasperate the condition further. Although Psyllium Husk is considered a carbohydrate, it doesn’t behave as such when consumed. The body doesn’t break it down and convert it into glucose molecules. Instead, it makes its way through the body where it helps to promote satiety and regulate blood sugar levels.
Reduced cholesterol – Experts have found that soluble fiber, like that found in Psyllium Husk, can actually have a positive effect on a person’s dangerous cholesterol levels. There are two types of cholesterol in the body. There is LDL cholesterol, which is dangerous, and HDL, which is beneficial. Now, Psyllium Husk has been found to reduce total cholesterol levels, and LDL cholesterol, which is why it is so beneficial. LDL cholesterol is the harmful cholesterol that can coat the arteries in fatty deposits, resulting in conditions like: hypertension, renal failure, stroke, cardiovascular disease, and even heart attacks. Therefore, reducing LDL cholesterol in the body can only be seen as a good thing.
Promotes digestive health in general – Finally, the last benefit of Psyllium Husk that we are going to be looking at today, is the fact that it promotes optimal digestive health in general. Not only does it help to prevent and treat constipation, it has also been found to assist with other digestive health issues, including IBS. Psyllium Husk can be beneficial for those dealing with IBS, as it has been found to alleviate the symptoms associated with the condition. Not only that, but it can also help to prevent further irritable bowel syndrome flare ups too. As well as that, Psyllium Husk can help to improve nutrient absorption rates, fight amoebic infections, and keep the gut and digestive system ticking over healthily as it should.