How to get more fibre in your diet
Why is fibre important? How much do you need? If you aren’t getting enough, what are some simple ways to get more fibre in your diet?
Why fibre is important
Fibre is essential for keeping your digestive system healthy, but eating enough fibre also has numerous other health benefits.
Maintaining a healthy weight
Fibre is bulky and so it fills you up faster. Because fibre stays intact as it travels through your digestive system, fibre rich foods keep you satisfied for longer. High fibre foods also tend to take longer to eat and tend to be less “energy dense,” which means they have fewer calories for the same volume of food.
Fibre also prevents your body from absorbing some of the calories in the foods you eat. All of which means it helps you maintain a healthy weight.
Reduces your Type 2 Diabetes risk
Fibre slows the time it takes carbohydrates to be absorbed into your bloodstream. That helps regulate your blood sugar levels, reducing spikes in insulin, therefore lowering your risk of developing Diabetes.
Lowering cholesterol
Studies have shown that fibre reduces blood cholesterol levels. This is turn reduces your risk of developing heart disease.
Healthier gut bacteria
Increasing your fibre intake promotes healthy gut bacteria.
A healthy gut contributes to good digestion, a strong immune system, heart health (by promoting good cholesterol), brain health, and can also help prevent autoimmune diseases, skin conditions and cancer. It can also help you maintain a healthy weight and moderate your blood sugar meaning you are less likely to develop diabetes.
Having a wide variety of beneficial bacteria in your gut can also help your mood as 90% of serotonin, the feel happy hormone, is produced in the gut.
Reduces your risk of certain cancers
Eating enough fibre can decrease your risk of developing colon and breast cancer.
May reduce your risk of developing dementia
Eating a high fibre diet may protect your brain and reduce the chances of developing dementia. In a recent study 3,700 healthy adults, ages 40 to 64, completed dietary surveys for 16 years. Researchers then monitored the participants for two decades to see which ones developed dementia. The study revealed that people who consumed the most daily fibre had the lowest rates of dementia and those who ate the least fibre had the highest rates.
Fibre and ageing
Our digestive system slows down with age, so a high-fibre diet becomes even more important as you get older.
How much fibre do you need?
The Heart Foundation recommends that women should aim to consume 25 grams of fibre daily (and men 35 grams). But most people don’t consume nearly that much. In Australia, the average is around 20 grams of fibre per day. In the UK it’s around 18 grams and in the US 16 grams per day.
It’s therefore important to know how to get more fibre in your diet.
How to increase your fibre intake
If you are not getting enough fibre, you can take fibre supplements, but you are much better off increasing you fibre intake naturally via your diet. Eating plenty of high fiber food is an easy way to add more fibre to your diet.
Choose whole grains
Consuming at least half of the grains you eat as whole grains will add more fibre to your diet. Whole grain cereals contain more fibre, vitamins, minerals and antioxidants than refined grains such as white bread, because many of the important nutrients are in the outer layer of the grain which is removed during processing.
Eat wholemeal bread and look for a variety that has at least 3 grams of fibre per slice. Quinoa is a great choice, with 100 grams (about 1/2 cup cooked) delivering about 3 grams of fibre and more protein than rice and it’s easy to digest. Other high fibre grains are brown rice, wholemeal pasta, wholegrain oats and ancient grains such as farro and freekeh.
Try to eat at least 4 serves of wholemeal or wholegrain foods every day. A serve is equal to 1 slice of whole grain bread, 1/2 cup of cooked brown rice, wholemeal pasta or cooked porridge and 2/3 cup of wholegrain breakfast cereal.
Eat whole fruits and lots of vegetables
Eating plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables will increase your fibre intake. Eat whole fruits as juicing them removes most of the dietary fibre. Raspberries are a great source of dietary fibre, with a cup delivering about 8 grams of fibre. Other fruits high in dietary fibre are apples, pears and bananas. Leave the skin on apples and pears because this is where most of the fibre is as well as antioxidants.
Avocados are also a good source of fibre, as well as rich in healthy, monounsaturated fatty acids which can help lower cholestrol.
Vegetables are all good sources of fibre. But non-starchy vegetables such as asparagus, brussel sprouts, cauliflower, celery, eggplant, mushrooms, capsicum, spinach, zucchini and salad greens are lower in calories so load up on these. Aim for at least 5 serves of vegetables a day. A serve of vegetables is 75 grams or about ½ cup cooked green or orange vegetables or 1 cup of leafy or raw salad vegetables.
Eat what’s in season. It will taste better, be cheaper and have more nutrients.
Add some legumes
Beans, dried peas, chickpeas and lentils are very rich in fibre, as well as protein, carbs, vitamins and minerals.
Snack on nuts
A small handful of nuts (about 30g) can have up to 3 grams of fibre. They also provide healthy unsaturated fats and protein as well as antioxidants.
Read food labels
While eating wholefoods is better than processed, if you are going to eat processed or packaged foods, look at the amount of fibre on the nutritional label and aim for higher fibre choices. A food with at least 4 grams of fibre per serve is a good source; food with at least 7 grams fibre per serve is an excellent source.
Adding fibre throughout the day
Try to add high fibre choices throughout the day.
Start the day with a wholegrain cereal like Weetbix, wholegrain oats or bran flakes and add berries or seeds, or wholemeal toast with avocado or banana.
Eat a side salad or vegetables with lunch and dinner.
Bulk up curries and stews with lentils, beans or chickpeas. Serve them with brown rice.
If you have a sandwich for lunch, choose wholemeal bread and load it up with salad.
Snack during the day on fruit, vegetable sticks or wholewheat crackers with hummus or nuts and seeds.
Increasing fibre gradually
If you’ve been eating a low fibre diet, increase the amount of fibre you eat gradually over 2-3 weeks as adding too much too quickly can result in bloating and abdominal cramps. Doing it gradually gives your digestive system time to adjust. Also remember to drink plenty of water as it helps the fibre move through your system.
