Fibre First

This month we are thinking about fibre. It really is such an important part of a healthy diet, particularly if you are looking to lose weight.

Why?

• It fills us up so stops overeating!

• It promotes healthy bowels, preventing constipation, and aiding detoxification.

• It helps with balancing blood sugar levels by slowing the absorption of sugar into the bloodstream, which is good for weight management and your health, more generally.

• It helps our gut produce short-chain fatty acids (SCFA), important aids for weight loss. These promote a healthier response to insulin, the fat-storage hormone. They also have a beneficial effect on the immune system and reduce inflammation. As inflammation is thought to play a major part in chronic disease, it’s easy to see why SCFAs are important.

How to increase fibre in your diet?

• Eat lots of vegetables and include the skins where you can. Try drizzling broccoli or asparagus with my tahini dressing to make them even tastier and perhaps more appealing to those members of the family who are less keen on their greens!

• Avoid processed foods. Fibre is often removed from these to help turn them into long-lasting products.

• Eat some fruit (about 10% of your daily diet). Again, include the skins where you can. It’s best to eat fruit in its unblended state to get the most from its fibre content.

• Eat chia seeds and/or flax seeds. Soak two tablespoons overnight in water and then either add to your overnight oats or yoghurt or eat/drink on their own at the start of a meal (preferably breakfast).

• Chose whole grain foods: brown pasta, brown rice, bulgur wheat

• Choose breads that are wholemeal granary, rye, brown sourdough or millet. Go for the darkest breads you can buy. Rye or brown sourdoughs are ideal.

• Eat raw vegtables as a snack, for example with hummus.

• Eat nuts and seeds.

What’s the best way to eat fibre?

First!

What do I mean by that?

Well, fibre creates a gluey gel - I see it as a glue on glucose - in our stomach and small intestine that slows down the speed, breakdown and absorption of glucose into the bloodstream.

So, eat your fibre first to make it harder for glucose to reach the bloodstream. This will prevent blood sugar spikes, give you better blood glucose stability, help with good weight management, and prevent type 2 diabetes.

Fibre creates a gluey gel - I see it as a glue on glucose - slowing down the breakdown and absorption of glucose into the bloodstream.

Types of fibre

Did you know that there are different types of fibre and the type you are consuming matters as well?

Fibre can be either soluble or insoluble. Soluble fibre supports your gut bacteria, whilst insoluble fibre helps your digestive system process your food.

Examples of soluble fibre include oats, oat bran, barley, oranges, apples, pears, oats, raspberries, potato, ripe banana, lentils, kidney beans, avocado and carrots, lentils, leeks, Jerusalem artichoke, asparagus, onions and garlic. 

Examples of insoluble fibre include wholewheat flour, potatoes, sweet potatoes, brown rice, quinoa, green beans, cauliflower, broccoli, almonds, walnuts, flaxseeds, 100% wholegrain pasta and bread, turnips, green peas, spinach,  coconut, and cocoa.

Feel you need to increase the fibre in your diet? Follow the steps above, making any changes to your diet slowly to give your bowels time to adjust.