Tuesday Tip: are you eating enough fibre?

Tuesday Tip: are you eating enough fibre? 🌱

Fibre is often overlooks it’s one of those things that has a surprisingly big impact on our health and most of us aren’t getting enough. In the UK, adults are advised to aim for around 30g of fibre a day, but average intakes are considerably lower.

So what are the benefits and why does it matter?

1. It’s good for your gut.
Fibre helps keep things moving and prevent constipation, while certain types feed the beneficial bacteria living in our gut.

2. It can help keep you fuller for longer.
Higher-fibre foods generally take longer to eat and digest and can increase feelings of fullness — useful if you’re trying to manage your weight without feeling permanently hungry!

3. It can help with blood sugar control.
Soluble fibre can slow digestion and the absorption of carbohydrate, helping reduce rapid rises in blood glucose after eating.

4. It can help lower cholesterol.
Certain soluble fibres can help lower LDL (“bad”) cholesterol.

5. It’s associated with better long-term health.
Higher fibre intake is linked with a lower risk of cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes and colorectal cancer.

There’s also another interesting benefit . You may actually absorb very slightly fewer calories from a high-fibre diet. The calories contained in food and the calories our bodies actually extract aren’t always identical. In one study, people eating a high-fibre diet excreted more energy in their stools; equivalent to around 116 calories a day. That doesn’t mean eating 50g of fibre magically gives you 116 ‘free calories’ but it’s certainly an interesting potential benefit. Fibre, resistant starch and the physical structure of less processed foods can all affect how much energy we extract.

Wholegrains, beans, lentils, chickpeas, fruit, vegetables, nuts and seeds are all great sources of fibre. If you currently eat very little fibre, increase it gradually and drink plenty of fluid, suddenly doubling your intake may give your digestive system rather more excitement than you bargained for!

Happy Tuesday 🤗

xx