60. FIBER’S RISE TO FAME

Dear Grandma Donna: Have you heard about the “Bran Man?” We owe our understanding of the value of fiber to a doctor who made an amazing discovery on a ship with a large group of sailors. Tell us about this man. Love, Savana

Dear Savana: Yes, we are thankful for the work of Dr. Peter Cleave who discovered this important ingredient. Today it is a known fact that fiber is vital to our health. The amount of fiber an item of food contains is clearly printed on the label. An advertisement on the packaging may boast about the high fiber content; however, it was only a few years ago that fiber was discarded as being worthless. Following is the history of fiber:

Dr. Peter Cleave was the chief medical officer aboard one of the mightiest battleships in the British fleet in 1941 with the problem of 1500 constipated sailors on his ship. Wartime conditions and long months at sea made it impossible to feed the crew enough fresh fruits and vegetables to keep things moving along. Hoping to cure his own constipation, Cleave decided to experiment by taking a daily dose of bran. A few days later he experienced a dramatic relief that lead to a dramatic decision: he would dispense a daily dose of bran to all 1500 members of the crew.

In a matter of days, Cleave became the most popular man aboard the ship. As news of Cleave’s victory over constipation spread to other ships of the Royal Navy, he not only became an instant hero but was dubbed “the bran man.”

With the war over, Cleave continued to study bran’s role in the body, concluding that several major diseases such as diabetes, chronic coronary thrombosis, lower colon cancer and obesity were all associated with diets low in fiber and high in refined foods. He considered white flour and sugar to be the most dangerous.

Cleave further concluded that B vitamins contained in the germ of whole grains aid the body in digesting the starch portion of the kernels. When you remove the germ, take away the bran and eat only the emasculated part left, Cleave concluded, you risk a whole array of dangerous diseases connected with the absence of fiber in the diet.

Cleave was further convinced that the medical world had never before considered heart disease, colon cancer or diabetes to be associated with the refining of natural foods. With evangelistic zeal, Cleave proclaimed his bran theories in scientific journals and in speeches before medical societies, relating bran’s dramatic cure of 1500 sailors and his subsequent studies. But his presentations were met with bored yawns and polite applause. No one paid the slightest attention. Banging his head against the wall year after year, he nearly gave up in despair.

But happily everything changed one day. By sheer chance, Cleave met a fellow physician, Dr. Denis Burkitt, who listened to his bran theories with deep interest. As Cleave was talking, Burkitt began to recall his 28 years as a government doctor in Africa. He remembered that the very diseases which Cleave was associating with low fiber intake were rarely seen in Africa.

Following their meeting, Burkitt decided to write a complete summary of Cleave’s theories and mail it to his medical friends scattered throughout Africa, inquiring if Cleave’s conclusions were similar to their own medical findings.

Within a short time, replies began pouring in from all over Africa which substantiated Cleave’s theories. By 1972, over 200 hospitals in 20 different countries had statistically linked low fiber intake with the occurrence of many common diseases.

So where lies the value of eating the whole grain?

1. The fiber the mill strips away from whole grain has the ability to hold water. Water and fiber together promote regularity and rapid processing of food through the body—about 36 to 48 hours, or two days—which prevents most colon trouble. (The average American’s transit time is 70-95 hours, or three to four days.
2. The fiber stabilizes blood sugar by allowing nutrients to pass more gradually into the bloodstream, preventing most hypoglycemia and diabetes
3. Poisonous substances pass more quickly with fiber, making them less likely to cause cancer and heart disease.

With this information in mind, we must guard our health and prevent disease by eating food with fiber. Note these two important facts:

• All animal foods—meat, eggs and dairy products contain no fiber. Refined grain—white flour, white rice, refined cornmeal—contain no fiber.
• All natural food—fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes and nuts—contain fiber.

The response we give will not be a bored yawn or polite applause. We will eat natural food—FOOD WITH FIBER! Love, Grandma Donna

SPICY BOLIVIAN CABBAGE AND POTATOES
8 c shredded cabbage
1 1/2 lb small red-skinned potatoes in 1-inch chunks
2 T tomato paste
1 t sugar
2 T olive oil
1 large onion chopped
1 yellow or orange bell pepper finely chopped
5 Roma tomatoes chopped
1 jalapeno seeded and finely chopped (2 T)
2 T lime juice
1/4 c chopped cilantro
Blanch cabbage in boiling salted water 5 minutes.
Cook potatoes in boiling salted water 5 minutes or
until tender. Drain, reserving 1/2 c cooking water.
Stir tomato paste and sugar into water. Saute bell
pepper and onion in oil. Stir all ingredients together
and heat. Season with salt, lime juice and cilantro.