Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Fibre

Notes from this WebMD article I just got emailed:

Soluble fiber (from beans, fruits, etc) aids in satiety (keeps you feeling full).
Insoluble fiber (found in wheat bran, whole grains, nuts, etc) keeps you regular.
For folk 50 years or younger - Women should have 25g of fibre, and men 38g - each day.

Chow a high-fibre breakfast - if label says 5g fibre per serving, that 15% - 25% of the job done. Add some fruit on top - bananas (3.1g each), blackberries (3.8g / 1/2 cup), hummus (2 tablespons = 1.6g).

Chow fruity snacks. (This means making sure fruit is always on hand, at home and at work). Half a cup of raspberries = 4g fibre. A papaya = 5.5g. 5 rings of dried apple = 2.9g. Make sure you eat the peels when eating fruits and veggies (i.e. IMHO potatoes should only be peeled if they're going to be roasted) for extra fibre.

"Beans are bursting with fiber". Pinto beans = 15.4g / cup!!! Black beans = 15g / cup!!! Beans can easily be snuck into soups, stews and salads a few times a week. Proving, once again, the Superfood-ness of beans. Go find my Warm Bean and Chorizo salad, but beans in Veggie soup, pumpkin soup, any stew, curry or casserole ... and stuff.

Try to find quick-cooking brown rice and whole grain pasta. (This is probably completely impossible in Mauritius, which actually suits me fine. Every time I've tried the brown or whole-grain experiment, it all tastes crap!) (Also I don't think I cook it properly.)

Remember fruit smoothies.

"Substitute quick- or old-fashioned oats for up to one-third of the white flour called for in recipes." Sounds dodgy - I'll give this a try and let you know if it works.

Skewer fruits and veggies and cook 'em on the barbie! Wicked idea. I'm definitely in. Might have to figure out which food works best for this though.

1 comment:

  1. beans are definately good, and a great source of fiber.

    Personally, I definately agree that we need more fiber in our diets, especially in fast food. or rather, if we just eat more vegetables, we'd get more fiber for sure.

    ReplyDelete