Dr Feeds.Com

Studies show that adding more fiber to your daily eating plan along with plenty of fluid will help your digestive tract to function better. You can also reduce your risk of colon cancer, heart disease and diabetes when you are getting plenty of “roughage” in your foods.

The great news is that you don’t have to spend all day chewing on foods that have the consistency of cardboard in order to get plenty of fiber into your diet.

Dietary fiber is present in all plant foods. Fruits, vegetables, grains, legumes, nuts and seeds are all sources of this essential component to good nutrition.

Health benefits of a high fiber diet include:

Improved gastrointestinal health
Improved insulin response and glucose tolerance Lowered risk of hypertension and other coronary disease risks
Lowered risk of certain cancers
A degree of weight management

With unlimited possibilities, a high fiber diet is easy and tasty. A bowl of bran cereal with berries can provide nearly 20 grams of dietary fiber per serving. Replacing traditional pastas with whole wheat versions is a simple way to up the fiber content of the meal.

Women should aim for 21 to 25 grams per day and for men the magic number is 30 to 38 grams.

Peels, hulls and seeds are where much of the fiber is found so when able, leave the skins on fruits and vegetables. Most cooking methods do not reduce the fiber content, so canned and frozen produce is as good as fresh. Dried fruits are still high in fiber but have a reduced liquid content so you should drink extra fluids when consuming them. Here is a list of some foods you should be adding to your diet:

1. Legumes & Lentils: Dried beans, peas and other legumes including baked beans, kidney beans, split peas, dried limas, garbanzos, lentils, pinto beans and black beans. Green beans, snap beans, pole beans, lima beans and broad beans

2. Fruits: Dried fruit such as figs, apricots and dates Fruits like raspberries, blackberries and strawberries, cherries, plums, pears, apples, kiwi fruit, guava, banana. Pears contain more fiber than prunes.

3. Vegetables: Fresh or frozen green peas, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, Sweet corn, beet root, baked potato with the skin, carrot Greens vegetables including spinach, beet greens, kale, collards, Swiss chard and turnip greens.

4. Nuts: Almonds, Brazil nuts, peanuts, pistachios, and walnuts but pistachios are the lowest in calories and fat of all nuts, and a one-ounce serving has three grams of fiber. Coconut.

5. Grains: Whole wheat and barley products Rye, oats, buckwheat and cornmeal.

Adding these healthy, high fiber options to your daily intake will be a great way to help you on the road to better heath.