Getting Enough Fibre

According to recent studies most North Americans are not getting enough fiber in their diets.  The recommended intake is approximate twenty to 38 grams of fiber per day depending on age and gender.  Twenty-five grams is probably a good standard for most people.  However, despite many a news segments and healthy living campaigns advocating that people eat more of this nutrient, most people remain significantly fiber deprived.

One of the reasons for the declining rates of fiber in our diets is the lack of fresh fruits and vegetables people today consume.  Along side this, many people are not opting for the healthy whole grains they should be. 

Fiber is found in a variety of foods.  It is important for the stabilization of blood sugar levels and for lowering cholesterol levels.  Fiber helps prevent constipation, obesity, hemorrhoids, and even colon cancer.  Fiber helps to remove metals and other toxins from the body.  Because the refining process has however removed much natural fiber from our foods, eating processed and prepackaged foods has contributed to a dearth of dietary fiber.

There are a variety of fiber classifications including bran, gum, cellulose, hemicelluloses, mucilages, pectin and lignin.  Although today most people are lacking in fiber, when taking fiber supplements one should make sure to do by themselves as excess fiber can interfere with the absorption of some minerals such as zinc, iron and calcium.

A fiber supplement can be useful to help you get enough of this nutrient.  You can also add more fiber to your diet to ensure you get enough.  Trying out some whole grain cereals and/or flours such as bran, brown rice, and agar agar can be a great place to start.  Alternatively or better yet, alongside this, you should make sure to consume fresh fruit, prunes, nuts and seeds (particularly flax seeds), and raw vegetables, beans, lentils and peas.

Leaving skin on your organic apples and potatoes can also be a useful way to get more fiber.  Adding fiber to your diet doesn’t have to mean a breakfast of All Bran everyday.  You can add significant amounts of fiber to your diet just by making a few simple changes.
If you’re in the mood for some breaded chicken you can add bran as a coating or oats when baking chicken.  You can also add bran to your cereals or homemade breads.  And, on a lighter fluffier note, even popcorn is an excellent source of fiber.  Making some popcorn as you sit down to that latest blockbuster can actually be good for your health (so long as you haven’t loaded on the butter and salt).

As you can see it doesn’t take much to get a little extra fiber but considering the consequences of being fiber deprived it is certainly worth the effort.  Colon cancer is one of the leading cancers today and other digestive disorders from Crohn’s disease to diverticulitis are also becoming increasingly prevalent.  So anything that can help prevent these should be given ample consideration.