Fibre – the essential role for your health

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Within the UK evidence suggests that only 9% of the adult population are getting the require amount of daily fibre in their diet and that this is heavily impactive on health as the balance needs to be considered even more for our overall health and wellbeing.

Fibre or roughage as it is often called is an essential part of the diet that is so often overlooked, and yet plays a major role in our digestive health and keeps the body fit from the inside. Fibre helps keep the digestive tract flowing, your bowl movements regular as the fibre, the fuel of the colon keeps us healthy from within.

Dietary fibre is the part of the food which is not digested by the normal process before it reaches the large intestine. Within the stomach fibre remains largely unchanged before starting its journey. As an adult you should be aiming for between 30-35g a day of fibre, however Government reports say that this is as low as 20g.

Children don’t need as much fibre in their diet as older teenagers and adults, but they still in a daily intake more than they are currently getting. For children up to 16 years  the following amounts of fibre are needed:

• 2-5 years = 15g per day
• 5-11 years = 20g per day
• 11-16 years = 25g per day

On average children aged 11 to 18 years are getting about 16g per day. By encouraging them to eat plenty of fruit, vegetables, and wholegrain starchy foods such as potatoes with skins on them can help to ensure that they are eating enough fibre.

Download your Fibre Tracker pdf

Fibre is a complex carbohydrate, the building blocks of all carbohydrates.

How does fibre work:

1. Fibre is like a sponge in the body, it absorbs water and swells up so that the body can more easily dispose of the waste content of food.
2. Drinking plenty of fluids ensures fibre works properly, 8 cups a day will really hit the target.
3. The bulk of fibre slows down breakdown and the conversion into energy giving that fuller filling for longer after eating.
4. Fibre inclusion can really help with appetite management.

Fibre and its types:

Soluble – found mainly in plant cells, with one of its major roles is to lower blood cholesterol. Good sources include fruit, vegetables, oat bran, barley, seed husks, flax seed, dried beans, lentils, peas, soy milk and soya products.

Insoluble – this makes us the structural part of plant cells. A major role of insoluble fibre is to add bulk to waste and to prevent constipation. Good sources include wheat bran, rice bran, skins of fruit and vegetables, wholegrain foods, nuts, and seeds.

Starch – acts like fibre and is the part of starchy foods that resists digestion. Starch is found in many unprocessed cereals, grains, firm bananas, potatoes, and lentils. Starch is important for bowel health, the health bacteria in the bowel converts the starch to shorty change fatty acids which are essential and may protect the bowel from cancer. These fatty acids are also absorbed by the bloodstream and may play a role in the lowering of blood cholesterol levels.

Fibre rich foods:

These include cereals, grains, fruit, and vegetables. The fibre found in plants is the undigestible part passing unchanged through our stomach and intestine. The main role here is to keep the whole digestive system healthy.

Why improve your fibre intake:

• Healthy digestive system
• Soluble fibre soaks up water to allow removal of waste
• Soluble fibre slows rate of digestion keeping you fuller for longer
• Insoluble fibre does not absorb fibre and so counter acts the soluble fibre
• Drink plenty of water to work with the fibre such as breakfast cereal
• High fibre diets without the right amount of water can cause constipation
• Fibre is even more important as you age, as the digestive system slows down hence the importance of a high fibre diet.
• You do not need to increase calories to increase your fibre intake.
• Increase in fibre helps reduce sugar, salt, and fats within the diet.
• Increase in fibre also increases the uptake of vitamins and minerals.
• Eating more fruit, vegetables and wholegrains helps reduce the intake of proceed foods

How to Increase your Fibre.

• Eat breakfast cereals that contain barley, wheat, or oats
• Switch to wholemeal or multigrain breads
• Swap to wholewheat pastas as well as brown rice
• Add extra vegetables to your evening meal
• Snack on fruit, nuts, or wholemeal crackers.
• Increase fibre slowly intake through the diet and not supplementation

Weigh Control:

• Increasing fibre in the diet can significantly increase loss of body fat
• Fibrous foods are often bulky and more filling
• Lower in fat
• Delays absorption of sugar from the intestine
• Helps maintain lower blood sugar levels and prevent a rapid rise in blood insulin levels.
• Reduces the risks linked to obesity and diabetes

Fibre at Breakfast:

Two thick slices of wholemeal toasted bread (6.6g) topped with one sliced banana (1.4g) and a small 150ml glass of fruit juice (1.2g) will give you about 9.2g of fibre.

Oatmeal granola with yogurt, berries and nuts in a bowl on the table. Healthy breakfast

Fibre at Lunch:

A baked jacket potato with the skin on (4.7g) with around half a can (about a 200g portion) of reduced-sugar and reduced-salt baked beans in tomato sauce (9.8g) followed by an apple (1.2g) will give you around 15.7g of fibre.

Fibre at Dinner:

Mixed vegetable tomato-based curry cooked with onion and spices (6.6g) with boiled wholegrain rice (2.7g) followed by a lower fat fruit yoghurt (0.4g) will give you around 9.7g of fibre. Be mindful that fruit yoghurts can sometimes be high in added sugars, so as always check those food labels and swap for lower-sugar options.

Fibre as a Snack:

A small handful of nuts (30g), such as almonds, can have around 3.8g of fibre. Make sure you choose unsalted and flavoured versions. Fruit like pears (3.1g) and raspberries (6.5g) per 100g also provide great fibre as well as other dense nutrients.

Multigrain crackers are also a great option to increase fibre intake.

It’s important to get fibre from a variety of sources, as eating too much of one type of food may not provide you with a healthy balanced diet.

Tips to increase your fibre intake:

• Choose a higher-fibre breakfast cereal such as plain wholewheat biscuits like Weetabix or Shredded wheat, or porridge as oats are also a good source of fibre.
• Go for wholemeal or granary breads, or higher fibre white bread, and choose wholegrains like wholewheat pasta, bulgur wheat or brown rice.
• Go for potatoes with their skins on, such as a baked potato or boiled new potatoes.
• Add pulses like beans, lentils or chickpeas to stews, curries, and salads.
• Include plenty of vegetables with meals, either as a side dish or added to sauces, stews, or curries.
• Have fresh, dried fruit, or fruit canned in natural juice for dessert. Caution as dried fruit has had the water removed the sugars and calories become more concentrated and so better if it is only eaten as part of a meal, rather than as a between-meal snack.
• For snacks, try fresh fruit, vegetable sticks, rye crackers, oatcakes and unsalted nuts or seeds.

Download your Fibre Tracker pdf