Fiber rich diet

Learn which foods will make you eat less but feel full: a fiber rich diet contains 25 to 30 grams of fiber a day, helps eliminating fat, cholesterol and carcinogens and eases your stools.

What is fiber?

Fiber is that part of fruits and vegetables that passes through our digestive system without being digested, that is without giving you calories nor nutrients.

However they are overly important for regular bowel movements: most people that suffer from constipation have a very low fiber intake. Hence there is little ‘bulk’ to pass out and they won’t have any need for going to the toilet.

Apart from keeping constipation at bay, fibers help you to eliminate fat, cholesterol and substances that cause colon cancer.

When it comes to weight loss, the more fibers you eat, the fuller you feel. Fibers slow down your digestion rate and it will take longer for you to feel hungry again, although you didn’t stuff your body with energy rich nutrients. 1 slice of whole grain bread for example will be more filling than a double amount of white bread.

Don’t be fooled by bread that’s not white: a lot of times white bread is colored to look like whole meal bread: always have a look at the label!

Last but not least: fibers keep your blood sugar levels constant. Eating refined sugar or white bread will give you a spike in blood sugar levels. However, once the spike is gone, you will feel hungry again and that’s exactly what you don’t want to feel when loosing weight.

Top fiber rich foods

Fruits, veggies and whole grains are your ideal fiber food. Dairy products and meat doesn’t contain any fiber. "White" or refined grains have most of their fibers removed. The best known fiber foods are:

• legumes like, beans, peas, dry beans and lentils
• all other vegetables
• almonds, peanuts, brazil nuts, walnuts (listed from high fiber to lower fiber content)
• fruit (with the skin!: an apple a day keeps the doctor away and adds about 4 gram of fibers to your diet)
• whole grain: make sure the label says whole grain! Products labeled as "100%" or "multi-grain" don’t necessarily contain the whole grains
• brown rice

Look at the video for more high fiber items that as an added bonus will help lowering your cholesterol. If your diet is low in fibers, make sure:

• you gradually change your food into high fiber food to prevent diarrhea, gas or other indigestion nuisances (add at most 5 grams of fiber a week)
• add more water, home squeezed fruit juice, green tea or any other healthy drinks to your diet. Only the combination of lots of fibers (25 to 30 grams/day) and lots of fluids (at least 2 liters/day) will make sure the fibers pass slowly but surely through your system.

Last but not least: once you change to a fiber rich diet, you will notice your bathroom habits change for the better.