You have probably heard for years that a high fiber diet is an important part of eating nutritiously. Recently, emphasis has been put on eating a high fiber diet because of the numerous health benefits. Some of the benefits of a high fiber diet are: relief of constipation, aid in weight loss, lowering cholesterol, controlling blood sugar levels and more. You may have even believed that the only way to eat a high fiber diet was to drink Metamucil or something filled with fiber that tastes like cardboard. The good news is that having a high fiber diet does not mean drinking funny drinks or eating cardboard. Read on and you can learn five tastier ways to eat a high fiber diet.
High Fiber Diet Tip#1
Changing over to wheat pasta is a great way to start a high fiber diet. The average person needs about 30 grams of fiber per day so if you just switch from white pasta to wheat pasta you can add about 4 extra grams per day. On average, white pasta has 2 grams of fiber per serving while wheat pasta has about 6 grams of fiber per serving. I have made the permanent switch to wheat pasta and have found that I love it and it wards off hunger unlike white pasta which makes me hungrier.
High Fiber Diet Tip#2
Simply eating breakfast can help you on your way to a high fiber diet. Not only does breakfast keep you from feeling hungry and overindulging at lunch, it is also a great time to work towards having a high fiber diet. When planning breakfast you can keep it simple by buying whole grain cereal and you don’t even have to get the cardboard kind. I get Total whole wheat which has 3 grams of fiber per serving and I usually eat 1.5 servings since it is pretty low in calories too. By doing this you are starting your gihg fiber diet by adding another 4.5 grams of fiber to your diet that you would be missing out on when skipping breakfast.
High Fiber Diet Tip #3
Eat sugar, natural sugar that is! I am guilty of always having a sweet tooth but today instead of grabbing a chocolate bar that leaves me hungry in 10 minutes, I opt for fruit which also helps me maintain a high fiber diet. Apples contain about 4 grams of fiber, pears have about 5 grams of fiber and adding raspberries to your diet will give you a whopping 8 extra grams of fiber (you have to eat the skin on the apples and pears to get the full amount of fiber). As I stated, not only does fruit help you consume a high fiber diet, it can satisfy a sweet tooth and control hunger.
High Fiber Diet Tip#4
One of the simplest ways to sneak in a high fiber diet is by putting it in your meals that you are already cooking. Add a cup of Kellogg’s All Bran Complete Wheat Flakes to your meatloaf, casseroles, bread, and muffins when you cook and you are sneaking 6.25 grams of extra fiber into the dish. If you crush it up well, you probably won’t notice it which is a great way to get your family on a high fiber diet without them even knowing it. I add it to all of my cooking and my family has never complained.
High Fiber Diet Tip #5
This has to be my favorite and it’s by far one of the easiest ways to substantially help create a high fiber diet. Instead of snacking on candy or chips, buy Fiber One Bars! When I first saw the Fiber One bars I figured they probably tasted like chocolate covered cardboard. I was wrong! The Oats and Chocolate Fiber One bars are great and the Oats and Caramel ones are even better (however they do taste like butterscotch to me). I always keep a Fiber One bar in my purse since I am dieting and try to maintain my blood sugar levels by eating every 3 hours. Eating the Fiber One bar gives me about 9 grams of fiber with only 140 calories and you would not believe how well it satisfies hunger, I recommend you try it today and get started on your way to a high fiber diet!
