Fiber and Your Diet

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Easy Ways to Add Fiber to Your Diet

We are all aware of the importance of fiber in the diet. Few of us however, know why it’s beneficial, how to eat more, and most importantly, how it will affect our waist lines.

Fiber is like natures intestinal mop to clean out the digestive tract helping our bodies to fight high cholesterol, certain cancers, heart disease and diabetes.  Fiber comes in two forms, soluble and insoluble. Both are found in fiber rich foods and are usually higher in one form or the other.

Soluble fiber dissolves in water and creates a gel like substance that helps to carry fat out of the body reducing cholesterol and aiding in stabilization of blood sugar levels. Legumes, certain fruits and vegetables, oats and whole grains are all good sources of soluble fiber.

Insoluble fiber aids in the bodies regular movement of waste through the intestinal tract and can be found in whole wheat cereals, wheat bran, whole wheat breads, and some vegetables.

Here are some simple ways to add more fiber to your diet.

-       Try to attain your fiber thorough whole fruits and vegetables rather than from juices. Fiber is found mainly in the peel and pulp that is usually removed from juices.

-       Add dried fruits to your diet such as raisins dried cranberries and peanuts

-       Sprinkle wheat germ or flaxseeds over your oatmeal, dried cereal or yogurt.

-       Keep the peal on. Eat the peels, which are loaded with fiber, whenever possible on your fruits and veggies. A medium potato with skin contains almost double the fiber of a naked potato – 5 grams compared to 2.5

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Take a look at your diet and see if you are getting the fiber you need for your digestive tract and add more if necessary. For more information let us at Train Daly help you with your dietary needs through our expert nutritional counseling.