Are you trying to improve your health by increasing your fiber intake?
Maybe you've been told that you should add more fiber to your diet,
perhaps by your doctor? In this video,
I'll show you which foods to include in your diet to easily increase your fiber
intake. I'm also going to talk about fiber and weight loss.
Hi.
It's Ivana. Welcome to my channel.
I'm an online coach specializing in evidence-based fitness and nutrition.
So no funny business around here. If you're new,
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If you want to add fiber to your nutrition plan,
I'm going to go through the best high fiber foods for you to use for weight loss
and your digestive health. And watch until the end,
because I'm going to discuss two very important considerations when adding fiber
to your nutrition plan.
I'm also going to share the surprising source of fiber that a lot of you are
going to be very happy about. Fiber stabilizes your blood sugar levels.
It can help reduce your cholesterol levels.
I'm going to share the specific type of fiber that's been shown in research to
lower cholesterol in people who have high cholesterol levels.
Fiber helps you feel fuller. So it decreases your appetite,
which is useful for weight loss,
eating different kinds of fiber promotes the growth of good bacteria in your
gut. And over time,
eating fiber has been shown to reduce the risk of colorectal cancer.
And of course it improves your digestive health and reduces the risk of
constipation.
The recommended fiber intake for men is about 30 to 38 grams of fiber
for women about 21 to 25 grams.
I generally suggest that men go for 38 and women go for 25,
roughly about 14 grams for every thousand calories you consume.
So it's dependent on how much food you're eating in total.
There are two types of fiber: soluble,
which forms a gel-like substance in water.
And that one is the one that's specifically for lowering cholesterol levels and
lowering blood sugar levels. Insoluble fiber is basically roughage.
It forms the stool bulk. Many foods contain both types of fiber.
In general foods with skins have more fiber.
I'm going to start with a soluble fiber. So we've got an apple here.
Pears and Kiwi and oranges and other
citrus fruits are also a good source of soluble fiber. Oats,
both types of fiber. And this one, one packet here has six grams of fiber.
These are garbanzo beans, so chickpeas.
Other types of beans.
Kidney beans, Navy beans,
pinto beans, black eyed peas. All of those are also high in fiber
Popcorn and also a very good source of fiber.
This is eight grams for half a cup. That's pretty good.
I really liked the Mary's crackers.
Most of the fiber comes from brown rice in this case and flax seeds,
which are also a good source of fiber, three grams of fiber in 13 crackers.
I've also got
This chickpea and lentil pasta. Compared to just a plain pasta.
That's not going to have a lot of fiber.
This one DOES because it's made out of chickpeas and lentils.
And over here.
I've got a couple other sources.
These are potatoes and also sweet potatoes,
both good sources, particularly of soluble fiber. If you leave the skins on,
there's going to be a little bit more fiber in there as well. Now in the fridge,
Carrots are also another good source of fiber.
I've got some edamame, some soybeans. Those just came out of the freezer.
I also got a few things in the freezer. Green peas.
Edamame, the soybeans. I also have broccoli.
This is a source of insoluble and soluble fiber.
I also wanted to mention one other sources, soluble fiber avocado,
just half an avocado has about five grams of fiber.
So that's a pretty good high fiber source.
I'm going to move on now to more of the insoluble fiber.
So this is the roughage. I've got some strawberries here.
All berries are good sources of insoluble fibers. So blackberries,
blueberries, raspberries, great sources of fiber, particularly raspberries,
actually, they're an excellent source.
Here's the brief summary of the fiber content of some fruit over here.
We've also got nuts and that's the main source. Almonds are excellent.
They have more fiber than most nuts,
and they actually are quite high in protein compared to other nuts as well.
Most nuts have a lot of fat, but not as much protein, not as much fiber,
although I've got some pistachios over here and they
have five grams of fiber for half cup.
I like to think of nuts in quarter cup servings,
because that's really what makes most sense if especially if you're aiming for
weight loss. So that looks.
Like that.
So that serving size:
a quarter cup of almonds right here is going to have four grams.
So that's obviously a slightly better choice than a pistachios at two and a half
grams for a quarter cup.
And then we've also got peanuts which are technically legumes.
Um, but this one here, this is showing a third of a cup, three grams of fiber.
So those are not bad.
Either seeds are also a good source of sunflower seeds,
which I don't happen to have here, but I do have some pumpkin seeds,
also a good source of fiber. So going to show you spinach.
So that's a source of insoluble fiber.
When you're looking for weight loss,
make sure that you're choosing things that are very low in calorie density.
So specific to weight loss.
You primarily want to be choosing things like vegetables,
particularly green vegetables. They're very low in calorie density.
You're able to fill yourself up with a lot of nutrients and fiber for
very few calories. Here are a few vegetable examples,
and I also wanted to mention a couple of mixed sources, plums and prunes.
They're really good high fiber foods. And now for the fiber,
that's been shown to reduce blood cholesterol levels.
Psyllium husk.
This is also found in the brand name Metamucil, it's a bulk forming laxative.
It has both types of fiber soluble and insoluble,
a dose of 5.1 grams twice a day has shown
to reduce blood cholesterol levels in men and women who
have high blood cholesterol.
It may be something that you want to talk to your doctor about adding to your
diet. And now for the surprising high fiber source,
dark chocolate. So this particular one here,
it's four pieces, eight grams of fiber.
So I'm going to show you what these look like.
Two grams of fiber in one of these little pieces and that is
185 calories for the serving. So not bad.
This is definitely something I like to include in my nutrition plan on a regular
basis.
And now for the two important considerations I mentioned at the beginning,
make sure to increase your fiber intake
gradually. If you have too much fiber,
either all at once or when your body is not used to it,
you may get constipated and bloated.
A lot of people don't realize that you can get constipated from having too much
fiber. So try not to have huge amounts of fiber in one meal,
try to break it up throughout the day.
And the second consideration is make sure that you drink enough water,
preferably between meals when you've increased your fiber intake.
Because if you take in too much fiber without water, again,
you're going to end up constipated and bloated and just feeling generally awful.
So make sure that you're also increasing your fluid intake,
have a lot more water as you increase your fiber intake.
I hope you enjoy learning about the benefits of fiber rich foods,
and you're more comfortable adding those foods to your diet.
Now please hit that LIKE button to let me know this video was useful for you.
I'd love to help you out with your journey to optimal health and fitness.
Please head over to my website ivanachapman.com where you can pick up a copy
of my free ebook. Subscribe and hit the bell,
if you want help getting fit healthy and strong every week.
And I look forward to seeing you soon.