What's the deal with fibre?
Fibre, known as dietary fibre, is basically the part of food that our body cannot actually digest.
Fibre is found in carbohydrate is actually one way that can increase the amount of calories burned in your body on any given day, thereby increasing the thermic effect of feeding (TEF).
Within fibre, there are two types, being soluble and insoluble fibre.
Soluble fibre dissolves in water whereas insoluble fibre does not. Both are good for digestion but also decrease the risk of diabetes and obesity in general.
Insoluble fibre can prevent constipation and promotes gut health while providing bulk to the stool while soluble fibre works to keep you regular through absorbing water in the intestines that slows digestion.
Good sources of fibre can include berries (raspberries are highest), oats, breads (whole wheat), fruit (apples are good versus bananas), cruciferous vegetables (broccoli), avocado and many other types of foods. Everyone differs on what they want to eat when it comes to fibre, but these are a good start for most people on where you can mix them into your everyday diet.
When looking at other types of fibre, know that there's a good amount of supplements you could take if you wanted to increase it. Metamucil, being the most common, is a type of soluble fibre and can be used to meet your targets if necessary.
As with most supplements though, we want to be sure that we increase and get the majority of our fibre through our regular daily intake of fruits and vegetables rather than supplementing.
In terms of how much we're supposed to get, again it's very individualistic. A good place to start is around 15g for every thousand calories you eat on any given day.
That said, the most important thing is having good consistency with it as it will also regulate how much water you're retaining on any given day so if you have 40g the one day and 11g the next, expect the scale to be all over the place.
So, this is all to say that you should start tracking it and also start paying more attention to fibre and where you get it each day. If you're experiencing bloating, take your time and figure out why based on the types of foods you're eating.
Don't know where to start? Contact us for some help!