Fibre for Health

In the midst of each upcoming “diet of the year”, I feel boring old fibre is very much under valued and under acknowledged for it’s many health benefits.

On average Australians are deficient in fibre, consuming at least 10 grams less than the Heart Foundation recommendation of  25–30g daily (children 18g).

Firstly and most obvious, most of our bodily wastes are eliminated by our bowels so it’s important to include lots of fibre (and drink lots of filtered water!!) to sweep and flush our digestive system.

In more depth (with plenty of research links below) fibre:

• Aids your body to eliminate toxins, excess hormones, and cholesterol with its carcinogen binding effects. The fibre forms a tight bond with bile in the intestine, binding up harmful toxins, cholesterol and fat that it contains.This fibre-bound bile ultimately leaves the body in a bowel movement, along with the toxins, cholesterol and fat
• Can assist in preventing some diseases such as diabetes, heart disease and bowel cancer.
• Specifically  inulin can improve glycemic control and antioxidant status in  Type 2 diabetes
• Increases calcium absorption and enhances bone mineralisation and
• Is suggested to play a role in obesity
• Feeds the beneficial bacteria in your gut, and we now know these bacteria will strengthen your immune system

Types of fibre:

Soluble Fibre comes from structures within the cells of the plant. It is found in fruits (such as citrus fruits, strawberries, apple pulp), vegetables, oats, barley and legumes, lentils, rice bran, psyllium husk powder. Beans in particular are a rich source of soluble fibre.

Soluble Fibre helps to slow the emptying process in our stomachs, which helps you feel fuller for longer. It absorbs toxins carying them from the body. It also helps to lower cholesterol and stabilise your blood glucose levels.

Insoluble fibre comes from the hard structural part of a plant, such as wheat bran, the tough husk around a popcorn kernel or the skins of many fruits and vegetables. It is found in whole grains (including wheat, rye, rice, barley and most other grains), nuts, seeds, cabbage, beets, carrots, brussels sprouts, turnips, cauliflower.

Insoluble Fibre supports regular bowel movements (speaking of doing your stuff,  you should be going at least once a day and be of the consistency of toothpaste, there that’s over!). It also scrubs the walls of our intestines, sweeping debris away allowing for better nutrient absorption. Insoluble fibre helps to keep us full and keep the bowel environment healthy.

Fermentable fibre – also known as resistant starch, is found in oats, lentils,
brown rice (cooked and cooled), green bananas, raw potato starch. Fermentable fibre feeds the bacteria in your gut. It means ‘good’ bacteria can thrive, maintaining a diverse and healthy microbiome.

Most fibre containing foods include approximately one-third soluble and two-third insoluble fibre. A good example of both SF and IF is an apple pulp and skin.

** BTW as amazing as apples are for our health please be aware they are very high in pesticides, try to buy organic or at least use these methods to wash as much pesticide of the skins.

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Are you drinking your eight gasses of water? Fibre needs the water to be able to travel through your system and do its stuff.

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The Fibre I use has both soluble and insoluble fibre, there is lots of easy and yummy ways to add it into my day, it’s easy and tasteless to either drink with water/juice or add to my smoothies and recipes…..but my Gluten Free, Dairy free, Sugar free 3 ingredient Banana pancakes are my favourite way! It thickens the batter to perfection!!!

Have you tried them yet? 

Here’s my Banana Pancake recipe

Let me know what you think

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Some of the Support I offer

FREE 5 Day Quit Sugar Support Program to help you get started on a healthier you

My 10 Day Cleanse is a great way to nourish your body, rejuvenate your gut, liver, reset your blood sugar & hormones, kick start your weight loss. With yummy, healthy, gut nourishing foods and a supplement package  which includes, probiotics to replenish your good bacteria, fibre (absorbs toxins, feeds your good gut bacteria) along with high quality anti oxidants, multi minerals, herbs & phytonutrients to enhance the detox process & support your body.

For more FREE Overall Holistic Health info my Fiorente Health Facebook Page, lots of quick health tips and recipes and motivational quotes

If you would like to catch up in person you can make an appointment for a FREE initial consult

I’m looking forward to getting to know each other better

References

http://www.nutritionaustralia.org/national/resource/fibre

Effects of Dietary Fiber and Its Components on Metabolic Health

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3257631/

A combination of prebiotic short- and long-chain inulin-type fructans enhances calcium absorption and bone mineralization in young adolescents.-https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16087995

Increasing total fiber intake reduces risk of weight and fat gains in women-https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19158230

Dietary fiber intake and risk of breast cancer in postmenopausal women: the National Institutes of Health–AARP Diet and Health Study^{1-https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2728649/}

Prospective Study of Dietary Fiber, Whole Grain Foods, and Small Intestinal Cancer-https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3513331/

Association between dietary fiber and serum C-reactive protein^{1–3-https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1456807/}

How Fiber Helps Protect Against Cancer-https://www.pcrm.org/health/cancer-resources/diet-cancer/nutrition/how-fiber-helps-protect-against-cancer

Effects of dietary fiber on intestinal glucose absorption and glucose tolerance in rats-https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/6252089

Insulin-sensitizing effects of dietary resistant starch and effects on skeletal muscle and adipose tissue metabolism.-https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16155268

https://experiencelife.com/article/fiber-why-it-matters-more-than-you-think/

Effects of long-term soluble vs. insoluble dietary fiber intake on high-fat diet-induced obesity in C57BL/6J mice.-https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19369060

Health properties of resistant starch-https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1467-3010.2005.00481.x

Health effects of resistant starch-https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/nbu.12244

Effects of high performance inulin supplementation on glycemic control and antioxidant status in women with type 2 diabetes -https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23641355