5Eat More Fruit
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Enjoy the best of every season in all their glorious colors, tastes, and textures. Keep the skin on, if edible, or cook them. Try baked apples, stuffed with dried fruits. So that you get that lovely, almost caramel-like, baked skin with the soft apple puree inside to provide a great dose of fiber.
Tips:
Foods high in dietary fiber often take longer to chew and swallow. The fiber slows down the rate at which they pass through the gut and therefore they take more time to digest. As they stay in our tummies longer, we are left felling satiated and hunger pangs do not return so quickly.
4Eat More Vegetables
Again, make the most of the seasons for the tastiest vegetables. Eat them raw, steamed, roasted or lightly boiled in just a little water. Brassicas, such as broccoli, are tops for fiber. Potatoes are classed as starchy carbs – not one of your five-a-day but, with skins on, a great source of fiber.
Tips:
Because fiber helps you feel full-up longer, it can be a brilliant help with weight control. Before you resort to a starvation regime, try a diet rich in fiber, then you won’t feel so hungry.
3Choose High-Fiber Breakfast Cereals
Many commercial breakfast cereals are made with refined grains and packed with added salt and sugar. Muesli can be really healthy but is often sweetened with sugar, so read the labels. Go for wholegrain cereals, preferably with little or no added salt and sugar. Or make your own scrummy granola.
Tips:
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If you eat plenty of fiber, your gut will be healthy and teeming with “good” bacteria, which decreases the risk of colorectal cancer and helps prevent diverticulitis and diabetes.
2Go for Wholegrain Bread
For most adults, brown, nutty loaves made from wheat, spelt, rye, and / or barley (sometimes with added nuts, seeds, or dried fruit) are the best breads to choose as they are packed with fiber.
But it is OK to eat fortified white bread sometimes, and young children under four should not eat wholemeal all the time.
Tips:
There are two types of fiber: insoluble and soluble, and we need both. Insoluble fiber is found in the husks of whole grains, in seeds and pulses, and in the skin of fruit and vegetables. Soluble fiber is found mainly in fruit, vegetables, pulses, and grains, such as oats. It dissolves in water and is fermented in the colon to a gel. It helps lower cholesterol and slows glucose absorption, which helps keep our energy levels constant.
1Home Bake
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Cook your own puddings and pies, such as an apple and blackberry crumble with a wholemeal flour and oat topping, instead of the classic white flour. For pastry, try half white and half wholemeal for a lighter option. Get the kids to help, too – baking wholemeal muffins, bread, or their own pizzas.
Tips:
Most adults eat only just over half the fiber they should. The key is more vegetables, more fruit, and more whole grains.
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