Five great ways to fiber up

Five great ways to fiber up - "a good living life blog"

Are you having your fill of fiber? Unfortunately, most of the foods we eat such as milk and milk products contain little fiber. 

Even vegetables have relatively little fiber. So what do you do? How do you sneak fiber in your diet? But do you know why fiber is so important in your diet? 

Fiber-rich diets reduce blood sugar, serum cholesterol and relieve constipation, besides helping in the prevention and treatment of several diseases such as colon cancer and cardiovascular diseases. 

Seeing the multiple benefits of fiber, you should try to increase its intake and hit the 20 to 35-gram target every day. Here are five great ways to fiber up:

Change over to whole grains. You consume a whole variety of cereals every day but have you ever wondered whether it is whole grain or split or broken grain? Splitting means refining the cereal and as a result, the grain loses a good part of the fiber. Try to change over to whole cereals in foods such as bread, pasta, flour, buns, etc.

Eat legumes every day. Try and eat legumes daily as they are one of the richest sources of fiber. Prefer whole pulses over split ones as they do not undergo much processing and hence are rich in nutrients.

Eat a minimum of five servings of fruits and vegetables every day. Include vegetables in both lunch and dinner along with salads. This will take care of your four servings. Eat one or two fruits every day and you can meet your five servings norm very easily.

Enjoy fruits and vegetables with edible peels. This not only gives you fiber but also vital nutrients that are lost along with peels. Compare for yourself- a medium potato with peel has 3.6 grams of fiber whereas the fiber content of peeled potato reduces to 2.3. Also, prefer whole fruits to juices as the juice is a refined form of fruit.

Eat a variety of foods. Variety adds not only spice to your life but also good health. You end up consuming many different types of foods and hence take in a good number of nutrients, including fiber. Besides, you eat a well-balanced diet.

Fortify your diet with fiber and you will stay fit all your life.