Most of us do not have enough fibre in our diet and the implications have now been highlighted by the World Health Organization (WHO).
This is not only about ensuring your bowel movements are regular but the benefits in terms of your overall health and longevity.
Eating enough fibre can reduce your risk of heart disease, stroke, diabetes, some cancers and more.
The study commissioned by the WHO says we need 30 grams of fibre per day and 91 per cent of us are not even close at about 20 g a day.
What we need to eat to get 30 g of fibre every day may surprise you.
Although wholegrain breads and muesli are good sources, if you are trying to reduce your carbohydrate intake you will not want to depend on this for most of your fibre.
I have a handy reference guide booklet that makes it easy to determine the carbs, fibre, protein, fat and calories in your diet.
If you look at the range of meats we eat there is virtually nothing with fibre.
Wholegrain breads, depending on the ingredients, can give you two or three grams of fibre per 100 g of bread. Rye crispbread though bumps it up to 11.7 g but increases your carbohydrate intake to 70.6 g.
One medium sized apple provides 3.8 g fibre, a whole avocado (the Haas variety that we typically see in supermarkets locally) contains 8.4 g of fibre, 12 g carbs and about 300 calories. A small banana has 2.4 g of fibre, a kiwi fruit 2.6 g and a whole orange 3.4 g.
Nuts, pulses and legumes are generally fibre-rich. Two tablespoons of chickpeas gives you 7 g, the same quantity of kidney beans 8.2 g and split peas 8.1 g.
Most vegetables are a good source of fibre with a gram or two per serving.
None of us want to constantly be checking the fibre content of everything we eat to ensure we are getting 30 g but I think there are benefits in doing so for a couple days.
You may think you are getting enough fibre but be surprised if you analyzed your diet for a couple days. After that you could make some permanent changes about what you choose to eat and settle into a routine that you know incorporates enough fibre.
There are short and long term benefits to doing this. Fibre hangs around in your system and you may eat less as a result.
Here’s to incorporating 30 g of fibre in our diets and here’s To Your Health.
To Your Health is a weekly column by Gillian Slade, health reporter for the News, bringing you news on health issues and research from around the world. You can reach her at gslade@medicinehatnews.com or 403-528-8635.
