What I'm attempting to write about in this post is not ground breaking information, but it is however, important. Simply put, fiber in a must have in your diet for the many health benefits it brings. Usually when people are trying to lose weight doctors will recommend high protein or high fiber diets.
Incorporating fiber into your meals is great because not only does fiber fill you up faster than protein, but it also digests slower and thus you don't get hungry again as fast! Now, onto the gross stuff. . . Fiber helps you have better and more frequent bowel movements (yes, I'm talking about pooping here). Many people I know can go for days to a week without experiencing a bowel movement, this is not healthy, especially when we are supposed to have one after every meal. According to Dr. Don Colbert author of Eat This and Live, inadequate intake of fiber can lead to constipation, hemorrhoids, diverticulosis, diverticulitis, bowel irregularities, and colorectal cancer. It is also associated with high cholesterol, irritable bowel syndrome, toxin buildup, and poor blood sugar control in diabetics.
There are two kinds of fiber: insoluble and soluble. Insoluble fiber increases frequency in bowel movements helping to prevent constipation, irritable bowel syndrome, hemorrhoids, etc. Soluble fiber is what lowers cholesterol, stabilizes blood sugar, slows digestion, and helps your body eliminate toxins. Both are an important part of your diet.
While fiber can come in many different boring forms, there are plenty of great ways to incorporate it into your diet! Many whole grain cereals have lots of fiber in them as well as healthy nuts, seeds, beans, as well as fruits and vegetables.
Fiber Snacks!
Fiber is especially good at snack time because instead of snacking on empty calories just because you have a craving (french fries would be mine) you can satisfy your hunger and give your body something it will like at the same time! Dr. Colbert recommends getting at least 4 grams of fiber from your snacks.
Kashi is probably one of my favorite brands on the market right now. One, because many of their products are USDA certified organic, and don't contain high fructose corn syrup. Two, because Kashi makes cereals, breads, frozen dinners, and most importantly delicious snacks that are high in fiber. In our household, we have substituted things like potato chips, cheetos, etc., for Kashi Pita Chips. They are delicious and come in several flavors. The box may look small from the outside but they match up price wise with name brand potato chips. The difference is that instead of snacking from a bottomless bag of unhealthy, high in fat, empty calorie chips, you will have just one serving size of pita chips and will most likely satisfied. This means you will consistently eat less, which also means you won't be buying them as often saving you money. Kashi also makes some great granola bars that are full of fiber and that are delectable. My favorite right now is their Pumpkin Pecan one in honor of the great season of Fall! The other thing about Kashi bars is that they are relatively low in sugar, sodium, and fat. If you go online to their website and sign up, you can usually get coupons as well!
Though I've never been the biggest fan of almonds, I have started giving them a try because they have some good fiber in them as well as mono-saturated fat which is a good fat. Other healthy nuts are good as well.
Many kinds of fruits are also very high in fiber and make for a good snack. Apples have 5.7 grams of fiber in them, oranges 4.4 grams, 1/2 cup of raspberries 4.2 grams, 1/2 cup blackberries 3.8 grams, mangoes 3.8 grams, and bananas 2.8 grams.
Fiber Snacks:
Breakfast is a good time to get fiber in so you can have energy for your morning and won't be starving come lunch time. I will often have a bowl of Kashi whole grain cereal with a slice up banana in it. *When buying products that talk about having some amount of grain content in them (i.e. whole grain, multi-grain, 7 grain, whole wheat, wheat, etc.) be sure to look for the yellow USDA stamp on foods that will tell you whether something is 100% whole grain or not. The labels look like this*:
Also, I like to have a bowl of plain, steel cut oatmeal with a touch of agave nectar and blueberries and strawberries. My husband and I both think that this tastes somewhat like a doughnut so it works for everyone! Beware of instant oatmeal though because it does not have as good of a nutritional value as steel cut oatmeal (also made by Quaker) or old fashioned oatmeal.
At lunch or breakfast double fiber bread is terrific. The key is to find bread that is not high in fat or sugar, but is high in fiber. This is why double fiber bread is such a good thing to have in your pantry. Kris and I use Nature's Pride Whole Wheat Double Fiber Bread, but there are also other brands that make it. Nature's Pride has 5 grams of fiber per slice! Which means that you can get 20% of your daily value in fiber from just one piece of bread! For quick lunches Kris and I usually have two pieces of turkey lunch meat, a slice of cheese, and any other veggies we want on a piece of double fiber bread. Accompany that with a piece of fruit, pita chips, and some dark chocolate and you got yourself a pretty healthy and tasty lunch!
Another way to get fiber in your meals, especially at dinner is to use brown rice. Kris and I just tried Yoga Organic Brown Rice last night and we loved it! One serving has 2 grams of fiber in it. You can pretty much use brown rice with anything. Add some spices to it or vegetables and you have a great side dish. Tonight I will be attempting to make red beans and rice using brown rice so I will let you guys know how that goes. Which reminds me! Beans! Beans are a fantastic source of fiber! 1/2 cup of cooked pinto beans has 7.4 grams of fiber! However, if you buy canned beans be sure to rinse them before using them to get all of the sodium off.
On desserts, so far I haven't found a whole lot except for this recipe I just tried the other day. I got it from a blog called Chocolate Covered Katie who makes healthy desserts. It was a recipe for healthy chocolate chip blondies using . . . wait for it . . . chickpeas! Which, if you don't know what chickpeas are, they are a type of bean. Weird huh? But they actually turned out pretty good, and not surprisingly, are quite high in fiber. Here is the link to the recipe if you ever get courageous and want to try it yourself:
A Few Cautions . . .
When switching to a high fiber diet, Dr. Colbert recommends doing it slowly in increments otherwise you might feel bloated and gassy.
Also, eating more fiber means drinking more water. Fiber and water work together to stimulate the colon. If you start eating more fiber, you should also increase your water intake . . . which is also good!
Basically, I think that putting fiber in your diet is a really great thing to do for your body. It will make you feel healthier, and hopefully happier all around. I have included some ideas in this post about how to do it, but search the internet and read nutrition labels at the store to discover foods that are high in fiber and incorporate them into your meals. Also please feel free to comment with any ideas or recipes you may have.
No comments:
Post a Comment