What May be avoided by reducing the amount of fat?

By reducing the amount of harmful dietary fats cholesterol and increasing yoru fiber intake, you can avoid cardiovascular disease, type 2 Diabetes, obesity, colon cancer, gallstones, obesity, diverticulosis, inflammatory bowel disease, hemorhoids, diarrhea, and constipation, .

Harmful dietary fats include:

• Saturated fat, which most people get from eating animal-based foods. Saturated fats have all of the carbon atoms in their fatty acid chains bonded to hydrogen atoms. Saturated fat raises total blood cholesterol levels and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol levels, which can increase your risk of cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes.
• Trans fat, which is rare in nature, but occurs naturally in some animal-based foods. Most trans fats are created in an industrial process called hydrogenation, which adds hydrogen to an unsaturated fat, resulting in a fat that is solid at room temperature. Hydrogenation increases the shelf life of processed foods, so it's good for corporate profits, but it's bad for your health. Trans fats can increase unhealthy LDL cholesterol and lower healthy high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, which are associated with inflammation and can increase your risk of cardiovascular disease. Trans fats may cause comparatively more weight gain than other fats, especially in the abdominal area, the most risky place to store extra fat. Trans fats are plentiful in margarine, spreads and dips, baked goods, crackers, chips, processed foods, and fried foods, so avoid buying those foods. Either stop eating these foods, or make them at home so you know they're healthy. No amount of trans fat is healthy, so eliminate them from your diet.
• Cholesterol, which is a waxy, fat-like substance. Cholesterol helps build your body's cells and produces certain hormones, among other functions. But your body manufactures enough cholesterol to meet its needs: your need for dietary cholesterol is exactly zero. Plant-based foods contain zero cholesterol. Animal-based foods contain cholesterol, which can increase your unhealthy LDL cholesterol level, along with your risk of Heart disease and stroke.

There are two types of fiber: soluble and insoluble. Fiber in cell walls is insoluble in water. Insoluble fiber binds water as it passes through the digestive tract, making stools softer and bulkier. It also stimulates peristalsis-the rhythmic contractions that move food along the digestive tract, preventing constipation and hemmorhoids. Insoluble fiber also prevents irritable bowel syndrome and diverticulosis, a painful inflammation of the diverticula, which are pouches of the intestinal wall. Because fiber accelerates the transit of carcinogens in the gastrointestinal tract, colon cells are exposed for a shorter time to these toxins, and the likelihood of colon cancer is reduced. Insoluble fiber also helps to prevent gallstones in women.

Soluble fiber, also called viscous fiber, is found inside plant cells. Soluble fiber increases the viscosity of food, which slows the movement of food through the intestines, preventing diarrhea. Your body uses cholesterol to produce bile acids, some of which are excreted daily. Soluble fiber binds to bile acids, reducing the amount of bile reabsorbed in the intestines, and increasing the amount of bile that is excreted in the feces. To make up for this loss of bile, the liver makes more bile salts, using more cholesterol to make them. In order to obtain the cholesterol necessary to make more bile salts, the liver increases its production of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) receptors. These receptors pull cholesterol out of LDL molecules in the bloodstream. Therefore, the more bile salts the liver makes, the more LDL cholesterol is pulled from the blood. One of the short-chain fatty acids produced by the fermentation of soluble fiber in the large intestines may also inhibit the amount of cholesterol produced by the liver. A high-fiber diet reduces total cholesterol, triglycerides, and Very Low Density Lipoprotein-the most dangerous form of cholesterol. This prevents the buildup of plaque in the arteries and improves cardiovascular health. It also lowers the risk of heart disease.

In addition to its beneficial effects on the digestive and cardiovascular systems, soluble fiber helps stabilize blood sugar levels by preventing blood sugar levels from rising rapidly after a meal. If you have insulin resistance, hypoglycemia, or diabetes, the soluble fiber in foods like lentils can help balance blood sugar levels while providing steady, slow-burning energy.

In addition, probiotic bacteria thrive on soluble fibers, including oligofructose and inulin. Oligofructose is a fructooligosaccharide, which refers to a short chain of fructose molecules. Inulins are a group of polysaccharides, which means a long chain of sugar molecules. The probiotic bacteria in your colon can metabolize these soluble fibers through fermentation, releasing significant quantities of carbon dioxide, hydrogen, and methane. This process can sometimes cause intestinal gas; however, if you eat these soluble fibers regularly, your body grows accustomed to them, and you experience fewer problems with gas. The probiotic intestinal bacteria can metabolize the soluble fiber into short chain fatty acids (SCFAs). This process not only helps support healthy populations of friendly bacteria in your large intestine, but also provides a direct supply of energy (in the form of SCFAs) to the cells that line your large intestine. With this benefit of this extra SCFA energy supply, your intestinal cells can stay healthier and function at a lower risk of becoming cancerous. Inulin and oligofructose are naturally present in many plant foods, and may help prevent constipation, promote enzyme activity and improve the pH levels in your colon. In addition, inulin promotes Lactobacillus acidophilus to produce butyrate, a beneficial short-chain fatty acid that helps inhibit inflammation in the intestinal tract. Beans, peas, and lentils contain the oligosaccharides, raffinose and stachyose, that feed bifidobacteria, which suppress the activity of putrefactive bacteria, such as Clostridium in the colon.

Beta glucans are sugars that are found in the cell walls of baker's yeast, shiitake mushrooms, and cereal grains, like barley, oats, rye, and wheat. They increase the number of probiotic bacteria in the intestines, especially in people over the age of fifty. Beta glucans stimulate the activity of macrophages, which are immune cells that ingest and demolish invading pathogens and stimulate other immune cells to attack. Macrophages also release cytokines, chemicals that enable the immune cells to communicate with one another. In addition, beta glucans stimulate lymphocytes (white blood cells) that bind to tumors or viruses, and release chemicals to destroy it. Beta glucans also help to lower total and low-density lipoprotein (LDL or "bad") cholesterol. Lentinan, a type of beta glucan found in shiitake mushrooms, is believed to reduce tumor activity and lessen the side effects of cancer treatment. Beta glucans also help your body fight bacteria resistant to antibiotic treatment and viruses that cause upper respiratory infections. They fight a form of Escherichia coli (ETEC), which cause traveler's diarrhea. They also fight upper respiratory infections from colds and flu. Lentinan strengthens the immune system and helps combat illnesses that attack the immune system like AIDS.