Fabulous Fibre

We’ve talked #wholefoods, #salt, #sugar, and #fat this week but my favourite, by far, is talking fibre. Like most docs, I can talk endlessly about fibre to patients.

Oh, we are fans of the fantastic fibre!

How much is enough? We want to aim for around 30g a day for women and teens and up to 38g a day for men. How much for children? There are few guidelines, but here is an easy rule to remember: aim for the age of the child + 5g. (So, my 6 y.o. [6+5] should aim for around 11g/day)

Why do we love the fabulous fibre? Here are just 4 of the reasons:

1. Helps avoid constipation. Constipation is responsible for so many long and short term problems, from potty training problems, urinary tract infections, abdominal pain, bloating, diverticular disease, haemorrhoids… It is so, so, so common.

2. Healthy gut bacteria love fibre!

3. It helps you feel fuller, longer which can be important to people who are working to maintain a healthy weight or who are trying to reduce portion size or reduce snacking.

4. It is great for women’s health. High fibre diets can reduce period discomfort and easy some menopausal symptoms.

Finding the fibre? Fibre is in those fruits and vegetables. It’s also in whole grain breads, rice, and pasta. It’s in high fibre, low sugar breakfast cereals like Weetabix and oats. It’s in seeds and nuts, including linseed and chia seed.

All this week, I’ve been talking about reading the nutritional label. Because the more you know what you are looking for when comparing two or more choices in a shop, the more likely you are to make small changes that really do dd up.