Hey? You wanna get high?...High in fibre?
Apparently as we age we can tolerate fewer calories. So that means eating less. That also means less natural exposure to fibre. What is fibre? Fibre is a non digestible carbohydrate. There are two types, water insoluble and water soluble. Insoluble fibre is woody and helps regulate bowel function. These include nuts and vegetables. Water soluble include fruits and they form a gel when dissolved in water, helping to lower cholesterol and control blood sugar. A high fibre diet prevents constipation, diverticular disease, IBS, and haemorrhoids. Water soluble fibre lower LDL preventing heart disease and makes you feel full longer so also valuable in weight management. When you see high fibre cereal bars and cereal and weight loss products, the truth is they add psyllium which doesn't even get absorbed by your body so it's not functional. In other words we get fooled by the media! So for men and women under 50 it is recommended to have 38g for men and 28g for women and over 50 it decreases to 30g of fibre for men and 21g of fibre for women. One cup of broccoli contains 2-3 grams of fibre. So generally speaking when I think about fibre in my diet each day I get my fibre from having a vegetable such as cauliflower, broccoli, coleslaw, onions and mushrooms, salads, and some dip such as hummus, and spinach dip. Desserts such as low carb pumpkin pie and low carb pumpkin cheesecake. Some tomato products. And other fruit based sauces like mango curry. On this lifestyle of low carb habits, some fruit is good to keep things moving. Variety is the spice of life! And if you don't eat a lot of vegetables it is important to slowly increase them in order to allow your gut to adapt. Sources also include wholewheat products such as oatmeal, brown rice, lentils, black beans, and breakfast cereals. I concentrate more on the vegetables, a little bit os sauce and dip as well as a small handful of fruit, sometimes nuts. So now that I have experienced this lifestyle for sixteen days, when I think about my digestion I have experienced a change from initially feeling constipated to now feeling regular. Balance is important because we have to balance the carbohydrate intake, calorie intake, fibre intake, water intake, with tons of other stuff we haven't talked about yet. So can you eat too much fibre? And the answer is actually yes. So just like everything else it is always about balance.
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