Posted Dec 22, 2011
-The holidays can make a mess of the digestive system. Sticking to a healthy diet with all the temptation around is tough. But one essential ingredient can keep those troubles at bay. The answer is fiber.
“As we all know, fiber, another word for plant roughage, helps to keep us ‘regular.’ But fiber also reduces excess hormones, such as estrogen, testosterone, and cholesterol in the bloodstream,” MiMi McGee, a local chef certified in plant-based nutrition, said.
Fiber also soaks up the wastes disposed by the liver, and without enough of it, those toxins can recirculate back through the liver, adding excess stress.
“Adequate fiber intake helps to move carcinogens and digested fats through the intestinal tract and out of the body, helping with disease prevention and avoiding constipation,” McGee said.
She recommends consuming 30 grams or more of fiber per day to keep the waste system properly working. Fiber is only contained in plant-based foods, making it difficult for the average American to get more than 10 to 15 grams per day.
But there are easy ways to meet the mark.
“Add fruits and nuts to any salad, such as apples, (dried cranberries) and walnuts to a green salad, or add a carrot-raisin salad with walnuts to your menu. Try a barley dressing, or add some barley or whole wheat flour to your corn bread recipe,” she said.
Use coarse- or stone-ground corn meal and grits and roast sweet potatoes with pears and garnish with pecans for added fiber, she suggests, and always have a veggie tray as an hors d’ouevre at parties.
For a warm meal in the cold, try a soup such as cream of broccoli, which packs a whopping 6.5 grams of fiber, she said.
McGee also mentions the necessity for keeping the type of fiber you consume diverse to maintain real disease prevention.
“We require both soluble and insoluble fiber. Soluble fiber is the kind that dissolves in water, such as oatmeal. Insoluble fiber is found in vegetables, fruit, wheat, rice and other grains, things which do not get ‘gooey’ in water,” she said.
Beans and barley, foods especially known for their ability to control cholesterol, also contain soluble fiber. One cup of cooked oatmeal scores four grams of fiber and half a cup of cooked beans contains 7 grams.
Insoluble fiber is especially helpful for keeping the contents of the intestines moving along and fighting constipation. Each one-cup serving of veggies contains 4 grams, and a piece of fruit or one cup of applesauce has the same.
McGee also has some substitutions for increasing fiber intake. “Substitute whole wheat pastas, brown rice and whole grain breads for white,” she said, adding on perhaps the most simple note, “make sure to read the fiber content on the label of your products.”
©2011 The Brunswick News (Brunswick, Ga.)
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