The main role of fibre is to keep the digestive system healthy – but are we consuming enough?
According to the NHS and government guidelines published in 2015, the recommended daily intake for adults is 30mg a day, on average, we consume around 18mg, so we need to find ways to get more fibre into our diet where possible.[1]
With this in mind, this is our guide to the health benefits of fibre along with our dietitian-approved recommendations of high fibre foods which can be easily introduced into your daily life:
Benefits of foods with fibre:
A huge benefit of a fibre rich diet is to keep your digestive system in running order and preventing stomach issues like constipation. This is because fibre acts an aid to make the waste move through the digestive tract more quickly.
Besides this, fibre has a number of other health benefits such as stabilising your glucose and cholesterol levels. Additionally, eating plenty of fibre is associated with a lower risk of heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes and bowel cancer.
Why else should I eat more fibre rich foods?
- Lowers cholesterol levels, reducing blood pressure and inflammation.
- Stabilises blood sugar levels and reduces the risk of type 2 diabetes
- Helps to achieve and maintain a healthy BMI as high-fibre foods are often much more filling than their low-fibre counterparts, so you’re likely to eat less and stay satisfied for longer. High-fibre foods can also take longer to eat as well as being less energy-dense, which means they have fewer calories for the same amount of food.
- Live for longer! According to the NHS, studies suggest that increasing the amount of fibre you consume can dramatically reduce your risk of serious health problems like heart disease and bowel cancer.
Fibre foods checklist:
Whether or not you have weight loss surgery, it’s important to ask yourself, are you getting enough fibre in your diet? And yes, that means eating your potatoes skin, your Mum was right- it is great roughage!
If you are looking for some really easy and practical steps that you can take to introduce more fibre rich foods into your diet, here are the main 4 food types to help increase your daily level of dietary fibre:
1. Swap for healthy breakfast cereals containing barley, wheat and porridge oats in the morning.
2. Switch to wholemeal bread, multigrain pasta and/or brown rice at mealtimes.
3. Add extra vegetables to evening meals either as an accompaniment or within sauces, stews and casseroles where possible.
4. Snack on fresh fruit (especially bananas- they are full of fibre!), dried fruit, nuts, seeds, or multigrain crackers during the working day.
Our expert Dietitians are with you through every step…
Specialist advice and guidance from our weight loss support team is a great resource which you will benefit from as part of your package with us.
After gastric surgery, the size and capacity of the stomach is reduced which is likely to affect your absorption of certain vitamins and minerals, so your dietary requirements will change. With us, you have access to experienced specialist bariatric dietitians who can help you decide whether weight loss surgery is right for you. After surgery, our dietitians will be on hand to provide all the expert support you’ll need to make the necessary changes to your diet.