Endeavour Short Courses
Fibre is essential for maintaining a healthy gut and overall wellness.
It can help to regulate digestion, keep you feeling full and satisfied, and even lower your risk of chronic disease.
Research tells us that more fibre results in a healthier microbiome.
Here are four simple and effective ways to boost fibre intake for better gut health.
Peels for meals
One of the easiest ways to increase your fibre intake is by leaving the skin on your fruits and vegetables. The skin of fruits like apples and pears contains a significant amount of fibre, as well as other beneficial nutrients. Eating a whole kiwi with the skin on increases its fibre content by 50 per cent. So next time you’re snacking on an apple, pear or kiwi fruit, consider keeping the skin on to get the full benefit of the fruit’s fibre content.
Slow and steady
To increase your fibre intake, it’s important to make changes gradually to allow your gastrointestinal tract to adapt. Bearing this in mind, more fibre isn’t always better, especially for people who are sensitive to gas production from bacterial fermentation. Incorporate small quantities of high-fibre foods into your diet every few days and spread your fibre intake throughout the day starting with:
- a teaspoon of linseed or LSA (a mix of linseed, sunflower, and almond) to breakfast cereal, smoothies or porridge
- wholemeal (whole grain) bread, rice, and pasta instead of white varieties
- small snacks of fruit, vegetables, nuts or seeds
- legumes for dinner, such as adding some lentils to spaghetti Bolognese or chickpeas in a salad
Go bananas
Resistant starch is a type of fibre that’s particularly beneficial for gut health, as it acts as food for the good bacteria in your gut. One great source of resistant starch is green banana flour, which is made from unripe, green bananas. This flour is easy to incorporate into your diet and can be used in a variety of recipes, from smoothies to baked goods. Oats are another convenient way to add more of the good fibre to your diet, while cooled rice or potatoes contain increased amounts of resistant starch.
Diversity challenge
Consuming a variety of different fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and legumes can help to ensure that you’re getting a wide range of fibre types and other essential nutrients. Aim to consume at least 25 different types of fruits and vegetables each week, and consider trying new foods or recipes to keep things interesting. Start a chart to keep tabs on foods and turn it into a fun challenge with the kids.
Here are 25 fibre-rich foods to add to the shopping list:
- Split peas (16.3g per 100g)
- Lentils (7.9g per 100g)
- Black beans (8.7g per 100g)
- Chickpeas (7.6g per 100g)
- Lima beans (7g per 100g)
- Artichokes (8.6g per 100g)
- Green peas (5.5g per 100g)
- Blackberries (5.3g per 100g)
- Raspberries (6.5g per 100g)
- Avocado (6.7g per 100g)
- Pears (3.1g per 100g)
- Bran flakes (10.6g per 100g)
- Quinoa (2.8g per 100g)
- Almonds (12.5g per 100g)
- Chia seeds (34.4g per 100g)
- Flaxseeds (27.3g per 100g)
- Popcorn (14.5g per 100g)
- Sweet potato (2.5g per 100g)
- Oats (10.6g per 100g)
- Whole wheat pasta (6.3g per 100g)
- Broccoli (2.6g per 100g)
- Brussels sprouts (3.8g per 100g)
- Turnips (3.1g per 100g)
- Spinach (2.2g per 100g)
Learn more about gut health in new short online courses at endeavourshortcourses.edu.au
By Endeavour College Instructor and Nutritionist Dr Brad Leech, who specialises in chronic autoimmune conditions and complex gastrointestinal disorders, and helped design a new short online course on advanced gut health for Endeavour Short Courses
