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Fun with Fiber
By Leanne Ely, C.N.C.


Fiber is essential to healthy eating, especially if you remember the other corresponding component to filling up with fiber—water. Think for a moment about your garbage disposal. In order to get it flushed out, you must run the water before flicking the switch. This is how you get things moving and cleaned out. Your own personal waste disposal isn’t much different. Believe me-- you need both parts of this equation to make things work: fiber and water.To bulk up the diet with more dietary fiber, it’s important to recognize that fiber is much more than just oat bran or whole wheat bread. There are two types of fiber: soluble and insoluble fiber. Essentially that means that one is soluble in water and the other is not.

Fact is we need BOTH in order to function optimally.

Soluble fiber sources includes apples, oranges, oatmeal, barley, dried beans and carrots. Insoluble fiber comes from bran, brown rice, popcorn, fruit and vegetable skins, and whole grains. Rather than obsess over which fiber is contained in which food, just keep in mind that having a well-balanced diet with an assortment of fruits, vegetables and whole grains will help you get what you need fiber-wise.The typical American diet contains about 7-8 grams of fiber and yet the National Cancer Institute recommends 20-35 grams of fiber daily!

For most people, a part of the solution can be as simple as changing out the white stuff for the brown stuff: out with the white bread, white rice and white flour and in with the whole wheat bread, brown rice and whole wheat flour. Adding a couple of grams of fiber here and there, do make a difference.

Developing good dietary habits in your children by including more fiber in the diet will payoff for a lifetime. Believe it or not, your little ones will start to prefer brown rice and brown bread—more flavor!