High Fiber Foods In Your Daily Diet
High fiber foods play an important role in your daily diet. Beyond the scientific explanation, you will find the following information quite enlightening. There are too many health benefits for you to ignore high fiber foods.
Fiber is largely polysaccharides made up of glucose units, but human digestive enzymes cannot break the bonding of these units. We can think of fiber as non-starch polysaccharides. These include cellulose, hemicellulose, pectin, and some other types of fiber. That might sound like Greek to you, but fiber is an important part of our daily diet, and high fiber foods might be perfect for your body.
Benefits of High Fiber Foods
Depending on their solubility in water, there are of two main types of fiber: soluble fiber and insoluble fiber. Both of these types are important for optimum health. Fiber has a number of health benefits and hence is highly recommended in daily food. Some of its health benefits are:
* It promotes the feelings of fullness and reduces energy consumption.
* It prevents constipation, hemorrhoids, and other intestinal problems.
* Fiber helps prevent bacterial infection of the appendix.
* It reduces the risk of colon cancer.
* It stimulates the muscles of the digestive tract and helps them retain their health and tone.
Whether it is your digestive tract, a low-carb diet or simply your daily diet that needs attention, you will find fiber filled foods very beneficial. And, with the endless list of high fiber foods and recipes, most everyone can fit them into their daily diet if they have not already done so.
List of High Fiber Foods
To keep the digestive tract healthy and prevent other disorders like hemorrhoids and intestinal problems, people normally need 20 to 35 grams of fiber daily. These can be obtained from a variety of plants, vegetables and fruits. Fibers are especially abundant in whole foods. All fruits are rich in fiber. For just 2 grams of fiber, you could eat 1 small apple, 1 peach, 1 small banana, 2 prunes, 16 large cherries, or a number of other fruits. Grains also contain fiber. For 2 grams of fiber, simply try 1 slice of whole wheat bread, 2 slices of cracked wheat bread, 1 cup of cooked oatmeal, 2 cups of popped popcorn, or 1/4 of a cup of corn bran.
Low-Carb High Fiber
If you are on a low-carb diet, you can try eating cooked vegetables to provide your body with adequate fiber. For 2 grams of fiber, eat 1/2 of a cup of broccoli, 1 cup of celery, 1/2 of a cup of carrots, 1 small potato, 1 large tomato, or a variety of beans. Beans, or any type of legume, are the real powerhouses for fiber. By only eating 1/2 of a cup of kidney beans, 1 cup of dried peas or lentils, or 1/2 of a cup of canned baked beans, you can provide your body with a whopping 8 grams of fiber. If all else fails, small amounts of fiber can also be found in peanuts, walnuts, and pickles, so there is really no excuse for not getting enough fiber in your low-carb diet!
Be sure to take advantage of the natural health benefits of foods high in dietary fiber. Given the variety of high fiber foods available, everyone will be able to find healthy great tasting high fiber foods for their daily diet.
Loman has been an online author since 1999. He began writing for a small group of 20 health related websites and now contributes regularly to more than 100 sites of mixed categories including AlternativeHealthBuzz.com.
