You will see the word fibre mentioned plenty of times on this site, in relation to recipes, diet and plant-based eating. Fibre is found in only plant-based foods, as animal foods are devoid of it.
Fibre helps to stabilise blood sugar levels by slowing down the rate that a food is absorbed into your blood, so that you don’t experience a sharp rise in blood sugar followed by an inevitable crash.
A good example of fibre doing an important job is when you eat a piece of whole fruit. The high levels of fibre in an apple, for instance, prevent the natural sugars from being absorbed too quickly into your blood. But drink a glass of apple juice, in which the fibre has been removed, and it will quickly enter your blood and cause havoc with our energy levels, hunger and even your emotions. It can also cause insulin levels to sharply, which will hamper weight loss efforts.
Apart from that, fibre is known to lower levels of blood cholesterol, help prevent colon cancer, constipation, haemorrhoids, obesity and may aid in eliminating some toxic heavy metals from your body. So many modern foods are heavily processed, meaning that the majority of fibre has been removed from them. White flour, bread, pasta and rice are all good examples of low-fibre processed foods.
A lot of Irish people fail to eat the recommended 18g-30g of fibre per day, which may lead to a number of health problems, including constipation.
A food with 6g fibre or more per 100g is a high-fibre food, so it’s always a good idea to read a food’s nutrition label for information.
The best foods to eat for fibre are fresh, raw veggies, starchy vegetables, fresh and dried fruit, nuts and seeds, beans, lentils and peas, brown rice, quinoa and other whole grains. All of the different recipes you’ll see on this site are based on whole plant foods, and are naturally high in fibre to boost your beauty and health, and keep your digestive system happy 🙂
Try my skin-brightening Marinated Kale and Sweet Potato Salad for a hefty dose of healthy fibre!
