Posted on: August 17, 2007
Fiber Is the One
Sure, fiber can help you feel full and maintain a normal, healthy weight, but studies are also showing it’s a champion in the battles against colon and stomach cancer
By Apryl Chapman Thomas
CTW Features
Fiber just may be one of the most misunderstood nutrients. Yes, you know that it helps your body “clean house” by pushing things through, but fiber is rich in other health benefits as well. Not only can it help you feel full and maintain a normal healthy weight, studies have shown fiber also aids in preventing colon and stomach cancers. Additionally, one form of this nutrient can even keep your cholesterol in check.
With all the goodness of fiber, we are still not getting enough of it in our diets. According to Lona Sandon, registered dietician at University of Texas Southwest Medical Center, on average, adults are getting around 10 to 15 grams of fiber a day instead of the recommended average of 25 to 35 grams a day.
She said she believes that with the recent popularity of low-carb diets and eating on the go, the right food choices are not being made.
“People are not adding enough high-fiber fruits and vegetables to their diets,” she says. “Everyone is staying away from whole grains, such as whole wheat bread, whole grain pasta and whole grain rice.”
She recommends having four to five cups of fruits and vegetables a day, along with three serving of whole grains.
You might wince at the thought of adding fiber to your diet, but the good news is it doesn’t have to be complicated, boring, or tasteless. Jackie Keller, founding director of Los Angeles' health food company, NutriFit, and author of “Body After Baby: The Simple 30-Day Plan to Lose Your Baby Weight” (Avery, 2006) offers some suggestions on tasty ways to get more fiber into your diet:
- Make legume-based dips a part of your snacking ritual, or incorporate dry roasted edamame and roasted peas into your snack mixes.
- Stuff your flattened chicken breasts and thin fish filets with fiber-rich, dark, leafy greens.
- Add a tablespoonful of wheat bran or oat bran to your hot cereals, or your muffin and pancake batters.
- Peel the stalks of broccoli, then slice them into "finger"-shaped sticks and use them with hummus as a very high fiber snack
- Make black bean or edamame hummus by pureeing cooked beans with lemon or lime juice, olive oil and some roasted garlic. Thin the mixture with a little bit of vegetable broth or low sodium V8 juice.
- Increase the fiber content of your favorite chili by adding cooked lentils, diced broccoli stalks, diced carrots, and diced celery with your meat or beans.
