High Five for Fiber

Whether you’re trying to gain or lose weight, currently in a weight plateau or just trying things out to get healthy this season, boosting up your fiber intake brings forth smiles all around. Americans today only take in about half of the daily recommended needs (25-30 grams a day) for a healthy diet, which increases risk for many health problems including weight gain, constipation, high cholesterol and other diseases including heart disease, cancer and diabetes. But increasing your fiber intake doesn’t have to seem so financially and tastefully dreadful! There are many ways to increase it, you just have to find the ones that work for you.

1. Shred with Bread (small portions). If you’re trying to lose weight, bread is hands-down an excellent delivery vehicle for fiber. Look for bread with “whole wheat” as the first ingredient on the nutrition label. To kick it up a notch, go for bread that has at least 3 grams of fiber per slice!
2. Skin is In. Cooking mashed potatoes? Slicing apples to put in your morning oatmeal? Put the peeler away, and keep the skin on which is high in fiber!
3. Sweet tooth for Fruit. Whenever possible, try sweetening with fruits instead of sugar to incorporate even more fiber in your diet. Think: fruits in your smoothie, oatmeal and cereal!
4. Think Veggielicious. You’ve heard it once before…but filling up half your plate with vegetables can really do wonders. Not only are they high in volume and low in calories, but they are also an amazing source of fiber.
5. Bean Machine. For every 1/2 cup serving of cooked beans, you can get about 6-7 grams of fiber! Try adding them in your salad, heated up on the side, or throwing some in your bowl of chilli or soup.

What do you to try to increase your fiber intake? Have you tried any of the above lately? High five for fiber!

Research assistance provided by Monica Lobo, RD.

One Response to “High Five for Fiber”

1. Neil Butterfield

   March 20 2011

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   This is just what I needed to read as we are making adjustments to our eating regime and increasing fiber is one of the topics of discussion. Thank you for sharing.