8 Ways to Boost Your Daily Fiber
Simply emphasizing grains, fresh fruits and vegetables in your diet will automatically get you enough fiber. A diet that revolves around meat, eggs, and dairy products will not contain enough fiber. Here are nine easy ways to boost your daily fiber:
1. Cut back on refined foods
“Enriched flour” means the product was originally impoverished. In many refined foods, the fiber-containing parts have been removed.
2. Try a daily yogurt smoothie
(See School-ade) Boost your daily fiber using a blender with a couple handfuls of fresh fruits, such as strawberries, bananas, papaya, blueberries, and pears. Blend in a heaping tablespoon of psyllium husks. Drink it quickly before it gels.
3. Snack on dried fruits
This could include fruits such as apricots, figs, prunes, and raisins.
4. Use whole grains instead of white.
White bread and white rice have had the fiber processed out of them. (This is why white bread and white rice have a reputation for being constipating.) Instead use whole grains: bread made with whole wheat flour, whole grain cereals that contain wheat bran or oat bran, whole grain cornmeal, wheat germ, and barley. Instead of white rice, use brown or wild rice.
4. Be a bean freak to boost your daily fiber
Nearly all varieties of beans are a rich source of daily fiber, especially kidney beans, which can be served in many forms, such as in salads, soups, bean burritos, or chili.
5. Dip it
A chickpea dip (i.e. hummus) is nutritious and fiber-rich.
6. Choose a high-fiber cereal to boost your daily fiber
If you find that high-fiber cereals are not the most palatable, try mixing a couple of tablespoons of All-Bran or psyllium husks with your favorite cereal to boost the fiber content. Add lots of milk, rice beverage, or juice and enjoy.
7. Choose your lettuce wisely
Iceberg lettuce is useless as a source of fiber and any other nutrients. Spinach and romaine lettuce are healthier choices to boost your daily fiber.
8. Fresh fruits have more fiber than canned fruits
Much of the fiber is in the peel, which is usually removed in processing.
More tips on fiber from Dr. Sears.
Dr. Sears, or Dr. Bill as his “little patients” call him, has been advising busy parents on how to raise healthier families for over 40 years. He received his medical training at Harvard Medical School’s Children’s Hospital in Boston and The Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, the world’s largest children’s hospital, where he was associate ward chief of the newborn intensive care unit before serving as the chief of pediatrics at Toronto Western Hospital, a teaching hospital of the University of Toronto. He has served as a professor of pediatrics at the University of Toronto, University of South Carolina, University of Southern California School of Medicine, and University of California: Irvine. As a father of 8 children, he coached Little League sports for 20 years, and together with his wife Martha has written more than 40 best-selling books and countless articles on nutrition, parenting, and healthy aging. He serves as a health consultant for magazines, TV, radio and other media, and his AskDrSears.com website is one of the most popular health and parenting sites. Dr. Sears has appeared on over 100 television programs, including 20/20, Good Morning America, Oprah, Today, The View, and Dr. Phil, and was featured on the cover of TIME Magazine in May 2012. He is noted for his science-made-simple-and-fun approach to family health.