Cancer survivor's guide to Easy High Fiber Diet with Optifiber (wheat dextrin)

 

Ahoy from Amoy! (historic Xiamen, China).

Since battling colon cancer in 1999, I've kept a high-fiber diet, healthy diet. Although healthy food can be expensive, hospitals are  more expensive than healthy food--and a lot more painful. And thanks to Costco's Optifiber (see below), which I thought was a trademark for a hi-tech fiber-optic firm, an high fiber diet can be inexpensive.

I'm not fanatical about it health food, of course. As a wise man, Redd Fox, once said, "One day the hospitals will be full of a lot of health nuts feeling pretty stupid when they're dying of nothing." I know my days are numbered not matter what eat, but I'd like my remaining days to be healthier than they used to--and I do not miss the junk food.

Health on a Budget Over the years, I've found ways to cut sugar and salt, increase fiber, and eat healthy on a budget. For example, we spend only about $60 a year on breakfast, but it's tasty and nutritious, and packed full of some of the best fiber out there: oatbran and blueberries. Blueberries can be expensive, of course, but each year we buy a 4 pound box of Traverse Bay dried blueberries and Bob's Oat Bran from Amazon, which we rehydrate overnight in a glass of water and add to each day's oatbran (which we spice up with cinnamon, and sometimes add frozen banana slices). a 4 pound box of dried blueberries lasts us an entire year--as does 50 pounds of oat bran.

And Goodbye (almost--see below) Metamucil! Thanks to Optifiber, Costco's Kirkland version of Benefiber, I've almost said goodbye to that monstrous fibre fix, Metamucil. For years, I tried to stomach Metamucil, that slimy, slick concoction made from psyllium seed fiber. It works--but it's gross. And if you don't use enough water, it can actually swell up in your mouth and choke you.  I much prefer Optiber. In spite of it being 100% wheat dextrin, it is has so little gluten that it qualifies, by a long shot, as gluten-free. However....

Does wheat dextrin lower cholesterol? Sadly, dextrin does not lower cholesterol as well as Metamucil and other psyllium seed preparations--and I do have high cholesterol (DNA--it's high regardless of how well I watch my diet). It's the very mucus-like properties of psyllium seed that helps it bind the bad stuff in the intestines. While dextrin may help lower cholesterol (as any fiber might), it does not seem to be as good as Metamucil. But if you don't have a problem with cholesterol--go with Optiber!

Optiber mixes with any liquid--juices, or even coffee and tea--and it dissolves instantly. It is tasteless, odorless and there is absolutely no texture. It really is like nothing there. I simply add 2 teaspoons of it to my coffee or tea and it is the most painless way you can imagine to get a healthy dose of fiber! And believe me, when you take Optifiber, it really does work out well in the end!

Try my inexpensive breakfast of oatbran and Traverse Bay dried blueberries (I've tried many brands, and these are the best), with two teaspoons daily of Obtifiber. You won't regret it!

Enjoy Amoy!

Dr. Bill

School of Management, Xiamen University
Amazon eBook "Discover Xiamen"

www.amoymagic.com

Bill Brown Xiamen University www.amoymagic.com