Tips To Get More Fibre
Date Added: July 17, 2008 08:26:39 PM
Are you getting your required fibre requirements? Unfortunately, most of the foods we eat such as milk and milk products contain little fibre. Even vegetables have relatively little fibre. So what do you do? How do you sneak fibre in your diet? But do you know why fibre is so important in your diet?
Fibre rich diets reduce blood sugar, serum cholesterol and relieve constipation, besides helping in prevention and treatment of several diseases such as colon cancer and cardiovascular diseases. Seeing the multiple benefits of fibre, you should try to increase its intake and hit the 20 to 35 gram target every day. Here are five great ways to get more fibre:
- Change over to whole grains. You consume a whole variety of cereals everyday but have you ever wondered whether it is whole grain or split or broken grain? Splitting means refining the cereal and as a result the grain loses a good part of the fibre. Try to change over to whole cereals in foods such as breads, pasta, flour, buns etc.
- Eat legumes everyday. Try and eat legumes daily as they are one of the richest sources of fibre. Prefer whole pulses over split ones as they do not undergo much processing and hence are rich in nutrients.
- Eat a minimum of five servings of fruits and vegetables every day. Include vegetables in both lunch and dinner along with salads. This will take care of your four servings. Eat one or two fruits everyday and you can meet your five servings norm very easily.
- Enjoy fruits and vegetables with edible peels. This not only gives you fiber but also vital nutrients that are lost along with peels. Compare for yourself - a medium potato with peel has 3.6 grams of fibre whereas the fibre content of peeled potato reduces to 2.3. Also prefer whole fruits to juices as juice is a refined form of fruit.
- Eat a variety of foods. Variety adds not only spice to your life but also good health. You end up consuming many different types of foods and hence take in a good number of nutrients, including fibre. Besides, you eat a well-balanced diet.
