Eating plenty of fiber helps us stay healthy. Dietary fiber can help reduce the risk of constipation, hemorrhoids, high cholesterol, high blood sugar, colon cancer, heart disease and obesity. Fiber is low in calories so it could be added to your diet to help you feel full for longer without significantly increasing your calorie intake.
There are two types of dietary fiber. Water soluble and insoluble fiber. Each of them can provide us with different health benefits but it’s important to consume enough of each type. It’s recommended that a healthy adult should consume between 20 and 40 grams of fiber per day.
The main side effects of introducing too much fiber to your diet are diarrhea, abdominal cramps or flatulence. To overcome these issues you should ensure that you’re drinking plenty of water and that you’re not adding too much fiber to your diet too fast. If you experience these side effects, reduce the amount of fiber in your diet and then re-introduce it gradually.
To increase the amount of fiber in your diet you should eat more fiber rich foods. The easiest way to ramp up your fiber intake is to eat plenty of fruit and vegetables. In a medium sized apple you get about 5 grams of fiber. In a medium sized banana, you get about 4 grams of fiber. In one cup of cooked peas, you get about 9 grams of fiber. A cup of cooked kidney beans gives you nearly 12 grams of fiber! That’s more than most people have in a day!
Fruit and vegetables are not the only good source of fiber. You can also get your fiber from bran cereal, whole wheat bread, brown rice and oats. Simply switching from white bread to whole wheat bread could make a big difference. Seeds and nuts are also a great source of fiber. Almonds contain about 4 grams of fiber per ounce and chia seeds contain about 3 grams of fiber per table spoon.
If you feel like you’re not getting enough fiber from your diet, then supplements are available too.