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The numbers are staggering. Obesity currently accounts for an estimated 400,000 deaths annually, costing us nearly $122.9 billion in health care-related expenses. In 2004, the US Centers for Disease Control ranked obesity as the number one health threat facing America today.

While there are many factors at play in the country's overburdened bathroom scales, there's mounting evidence that a key ingredient missing from the typical American diet may also be the key to beating obesity. That ingredient is fiber.

In a recent study involving 1700 overweight men and women, researchers found that those with the highest fiber intake also experienced the greatest weight loss over a period of 24 months. These results are credited to the fact that fiber helps to slow the movement of food through the body, reducing the pangs of hunger and, by extension, our overall intake of food. Diets high in dietary fiber also actually decrease the number of the calories absorbed from the food we ingest.

The typical American diet is high in animal fats and proteins as well as refined carbohydrates, which means that the fresh fruits, vegetables and whole grains high in dietary fiber are often missing from our plates. This is bad news for more than one reason.

Studies have shown not only that obesity is dramatically less common in countries where fiber intake is highest, so are many of the diseases typically associated with Western, industrialized nations. Those diseases include heart attack, high blood pressure, diabetes and colon cancer.

Fiber plays a role not only in keeping us healthy and helping us lose weight, but helping to keep us from gaining weight in the first place. Some researchers have actually calculated that if Americans doubled their intake for fiber, they could cut 100 calories from their daily diet - which would shave off 10 pounds of yearly weight gain.

For these and other reasons, more and more health-conscious individuals are seeking to increase their daily intake of fiber. Supplements can play a key role in achieving this goal by offering dietary fiber in a convenient and ready-to-use form.

However, all supplements are not created equal.

Fiber supplements have traditionally come in a powder form that has to be mixed with water, forming a gritty, chalky mix. It's a format most people find distasteful and hard to swallow. Manufacturers have tried to address this problem by putting fiber in a capsule form, but suggested doses are often in the 10-30 capsule range, which many have found equally hard to take.

Finally, a new medical discovery makes it easy to consume adequate amounts of fiber for its desired weight loss health benefits. Ready Fiber is the world’s first and only clear liquid fiber supplement. Originally developed for hospital patients who could not use traditional fiber supplements, this proprietary formula contains only 100% soluble fiber that has only recently become available to the public. Ready Fiber's new, highly concentrated, natural formula offers 12 grams of fiber (the equivalent of six bowls of broccoli) per one ounce serving, in contrast to 3-5 grams per serving of the leading the leading fiber supplements.

Jim Caras is the owner of Health Direct, the manufacturer of Ready Fiber. If you'd like to give Ready Fiber a try, Health Direct is offering a $3 manufacturer's rebate on your first purchase. Go to www.ReadyFiberRebate.com to download your free rebate coupon.

Labels: clear liquid fiber, diabetes, diabetes mellitus type 2, digestive health, fiber supplement, fiber supplements, fiber vitamin, high fiber, obesity, Ready Fiber, regularity, soluble fiber, weight loss