5 Tips to Increase Fiber in your Diet
Leonila Campos is a vegan clinical dietitian and online nutrition vegan coach committed to helping women learn how to build healthier relationships with food and their bodies. Leonila's work focuses on eliminating restrictive food behaviors, yo-yo dieting, and negative beliefs around food. Leonila believes in taking a collaborative... more
You might be wondering why the focus is on fiber. Let's first explain what fiber is, where it comes from, and then how we can add more.
Fiber is a plant-based nutrient. It is a type of carbohydrate that does not get digested and passes through the digestive tract almost intact. However, as fiber is passing by, it is cleaning out the digestive tract. There is soluble fiber and insoluble fiber.
Soluble fiber comes from beans, lentils, oatmeal, peas, citrus fruits, blueberries, apples, and barley. Soluble fiber has been shown to lower cholesterol and elevated blood sugars.
Insoluble fiber can come from whole-wheat flour, wheat bran, brown rice, cauliflower, potatoes, tomatoes, and cucumber. Insoluble fiber has been shown to increase the passage of food through the digestive system. This helps to prevent constipation.
The recommendation for fiber is to at least 25 grams for women and 30 grams for men. The important fact to take away from this is to overall increase plant food sources to our daily meals.
