How to Get More Fiber
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You know you need to eat more fiber. Weight loss, lower cholesterol, reduced risk of diabetes and heart disease are all in fiber's wheelhouse. But chewing on a celery stick may not exactly provide you with the savory sensation you crave for your meals, so here are some suggestion on how to tastily incorporate fiber into your daily diet.
For breakfast, avoid juice and opt instead for whole fruit. Although fruit juices may be high in nutrients, the process of juicing strips the fiber from them. When selecting your breakfast fruit, remember that they have not been created equal when it comes to fiber. A small pear will net you five grams of fiber, whereas a whole cup of watermelon is good for only a single gram. Berries with seeds are among the most fiber-rich foods you can find, and also go great atop high-fiber cereals. Blackberries rate the highest, coming in at 8 grams of fiber per cup. The general rule of thumb when shopping for fiber is that 2.5 grams of fiber per serving is good, and anything over 5 grams is terrific.
As for that cereal the berries are topping, look for whole grains. Refined grains, like juiced fruits, have had their fiber plucked from them. You can't go wrong with oatmeal, but for some variety, choose from this list of major fiber players:
- Amaranth
- Barley
- Buckwheat
- Bulgur wheat
- Farro
- Freekeh
- Millet
- Quinoa
Most of us don't eat vegetables for breakfast, which is why we should take pains to load up on them for lunch and dinner. Non-starchy vegetables are high in fiber and loaded with nutrients. Here's a tip: eat your salad before your meal and you are likely to eat less of the food that packs on the pounds. And to really add some more fiber kick to any salad, sprinkle it generously with chia seeds. These are fully 95 percent insoluble fiber, weighing in at 11 grams of fiber to the ounce. Look towards beans as a main protein source for your lunch, as one cup of cooked beans can supply you 75 percent of the fiber you need daily. If you do make a sandwich, be sure it is on whole grain bread.
For that mid-afternoon snack, seek out whole fruit (be sure to eat the skin; in fruit such as apples, 50 percent of the fiber is found in the peel.) Don't neglect nuts, especially almonds.
For dinner, leave the skin on your sweet potatoes, and go heavy on the legumes – beans, dried peas and lentils. If you bake, be sure to use high-fiber flours such as whole-wheat pastry flour – which boasts three times as much fiber as white – or coconut flour, which is both high in fiber and lower in carbs.