Fibre is a carbohydrate that keeps our digestive system healthy.
We need to consume around 30g fibre a day to maintain a healthy diet.
Fibre also gives you that feeling of fullness
Fibre can come in many forms – and it is interesting to note that grains are not the only high source of dietary fibre.
We need fibre in our diet for the following reasons:
-to help prevent constipation
-to speed up time the faeces passes through the body.
-to help prevent heart disease
-to decrease chance of diabetes
-to limit weight gain
– to improve our digestion
-assists in stabilising glucose and cholesterol levels
Step 1 in this process is to make sure we are drinking enough water to avoid constipation. It is suggested that we need to drink a minimum of 1L of water for every 20 – 25kg of body weight.
Of course, items such as All Bran (12g fibre/serve) or Weetbix (7g fibre/serve) and Baked Beans (7g fibre/serve) are good ways to increase our fibre.
Whole-wheat pasta also contains 8g fibre / serve.
Switching to wholemeal or multigrain breads and brown rice will assist in fibre intake as well.
But for those trying to cut back on grains and pasta or people who are sensitive to gluten, we need to find alternative sources to meet these daily fibre needs.
Other great sources of natural fibre are:
-Cup of peas (8g fibre)
-Raspberries (8g)
-Avocadoes (7g)
-Cup of raw broccoli (5g)
-Cup of chia seeds (6g) – and also give body a natural energy boost
-Kiwi fruit (4g)
-Granny smith apple
-Carrot
-Spinach
-Cabbage
Adding a teaspoon of flaxseed oil to a glass of water each day will also increase your fibre intake.
Increasing fibre into a diet all at once can result in abdominal pain and gas – so increase gradually over the period of a week to allow your body time to adjust.
Other tips to increasing fibre are:
-When eating packaged food, try to aim for foods with a minimum of 4g fibre
-Use wholegrain pasta and bread instead of white
-Have quinoa or brown rice over white rice
-Cook with wholemeal flour
You can also take a supplement (via a tablet or powder) that will increase your fibre intake, but as you can see there are many natural forms of foods that will do this for you.
It is very important that we have enough fibre, as constipation is literally a “pain in the butt”.
So make sure you keep up your water intake, ensure you are getting enough fibre from natural sources in your vegetables and wholemeal grains and keep your insides working regularly………
