Your Body Loves Fiber – Don’t Keep Them Apart!
Fiber and Weight Loss go hand in hand!
Fiber and weight loss are connected! My nutritionist once said to me: “Take psyllium for the rest of your life…” At the time I laughed because I was just starting to increase my fiber and was not yet aware of the fantastic benefits my body was going to reap from a simple little piece of advice. Several years later now, I cannot emphasize enough the importance of getting enough fiber in your diet. Once you start to increase the fiber in your diet, you will feel great, your body will change, your tummy will get flat, and you will be hooked on beautiful, healthy, nutritious, fiber-packed foods.
6 Immediate Benefits of Increasing your Fiber:
- Lose weight because fiber slows down the digestive process.
- Fills you up longer.
- Reduces your hunger level.
- Helps prevent swings in blood sugar.
- Helps lower your cholesterol.
- Keeps you regular!
How fiber and weight loss are connected:
The reason you will lose weight and reduce your hunger level if you fuel up on fiber is because fiber makes you feel full sooner and stays in your stomach longer than other foods. This in turn slows down the rate of digestion, keeping you feeling full for a longer period of time.
More Benefits of Fiber:
You won’t get that blood sugar rise and crash that happens so quickly when you eat foods that use refined grains, like white bread, white rice, and sugar-laden breakfast cereals.
Another bonus of bumping up your fiber intake is that fiber moves fat through the digestive system faster so less fat is absorbed. Increasing your fiber intake will also benefit your complete digestive health and keep you regular. Too many women suffer needlessly from constipation because they are eating processed foods on the go, void of the fiber that your colon so dearly loves!
Water + Fiber = Regularity!
An important thing to remember is that when you increase your fiber, you need to drink plenty of water, at least 8 cups per day. Fiber absorbs large amounts of water in the intestine, and this helps the fiber move through your body smoothly!
What you can do today!
How can you add fiber to your diet? It’s really simple… eat more fresh vegetables, fresh fruits and whole grains. Load up on salads, steam up a big pot of broccoli, and eat clean whole grain foods, like brown rice, quinoa, whole oats and yams.
A super simple way that you can add fiber to your diet AND increase your water intake is to drink blender salads. I drink a blender salad every day, and I can tell you that my energy is amazing. I know a lot of women are not “regular” and another benefit of drinking a blender salad every day will also keep your bowels humming along beautifully! If you want to know how to make it, my favorite blender salad recipe is here
What high-fiber foods should you look for?
Fresh fruits and vegetables are an obvious choice for increasing your fiber intake. Legumes and grains are also high in fiber. Look for products that are labeled “whole grain.” That means it is made with the COMPLETE grain kernel retaining all the nutritious fiber. It’s important to note the difference between “whole grain” and “100% whole wheat” or “multi-grain”. If a product says “100% whole wheat” it is just like eating white bread dyed brown. It is not the same as “whole grain.”
So start slowly if you have to, add oatmeal to your breakfast, a salad to your lunch and steamed veggies to your dinner. Then switch your bread over to “whole-grain” and add fresh fruit for dessert. Remember to drink plenty of water too, and before you know you will see the connection between fiber and weight loss and wonder how you ever lived without enough fiber in your life.
