A great and easy way to add more fiber to your diet!

Quaker Oats has recently introduced Quaker Instant Oatmeal High Fiber to the store shelves.  This high fiber oatmeal provides you with 40% of the recommended daily value of fiber and makes a terrific addition to any healthy diet.  It’s available in two delicious flavors, Cinnamon Swirl and Maple & Brown Sugar.  Definitely give it a try if you are looking to get healthier and add fiber to your diet.  It is also a great alternative to a high fiber cereal.

With summer approaching, it is time to pull out your blenders and start creating some cool summer treats. If you are trying to increase you fiber intake or are already on a high fiber diet, then you might want to make some fiber smoothies.

Fiber Smoothie Recipe

Banana Fiber Smoothie – 1 banana, 1/4 cup high fiber cereal, 1/4 cup milk. Blend in your mixer and enjoy! This is also great with strawberries added. Get creative!

A fiber smoothie is a great way to get extra fiber and vitamins into your diet.

How much fiber does a child need a day? It is recommended that children get their age plus 5 grams of fiber a day. If you are looking to increase the amount of fiber in your child’s diet there are many high fiber kid friendly foods to choose from.

Fiber Foods for Kids

• Fruit - Fruits can be a great source of fiber for kids. Pears have 4-5 grams of fiber. Bananas have approx. 3 grams of fiber. Fruits are always a healthy snack for kids!
• Cereal - It is best to limit your child’s consumption of sugary cereals. Look for low sugar cereals made with whole grains. In order for a cereal to be considered high fiber look for cereals that have at least 5 grams of fiber per serving. You can also buy cheerios and add some of your own high fiber cereal. For example, All Bran’s new Strawberry Medley is great but may contain more fiber than your child really needs. Therefore, just mix a handful in with your child’s cheerios or cereal of choice.
• Mott’s Apple Sauce with added fiber - Mott’s now sells an applesauce that has added fiber. This applesauce is definitely a high fiber kid friendly food!
• Oatmeal
• Hannover’s now has a bunch of whole grain snacks. My boys love there whole grain cheese puffs and they have 3 grams of fiber per serving. Look in the chip section in your grocery store.

Be sure to check our list of high fiber foods for more suggestions.

Although there is no identifiable deficiency disease caused by lack of fiber in the diet, research does indicate that a low intake of dietary fiber, or a dietary fiber deficiency, over one’s life can be associated with numerous health problems. These health problems include constipation, bowel irregularities, hemorrhoids, diverticulosis, raised cholesterol levels, and obesity. In order to avoid these health concerns associated with a dietary fiber deficiency one should definitely consume 25-35 grams of fiber per day.

If you are looking for an organic drink with fiber you may want to try drinking Silk’s new product Silk Plus Fiber. It is an organic soy milk and provides 5 grams of fiber per serving. Silk Plus Fiber offers a delicious and convenient way to boost your fiber intake and help you meet your daily fiber needs. I love Silk’s soy milk and definitely recommend this product. It would be a great addition to a high fiber cereal.

Like I have mentioned in earlier posts, if you are increasing the amount of fiber in your diet, make sure that you increase your water intake too. Water will help fiber do its job and help prevent constipation and gas pains.

While I was grocery shopping today I came across 100% whole grain Thomas English Muffins that have 8 grams of fiber and only 100 calories. These English Muffins would be a great addition to a high fiber diet. You could take a break from your high fiber cereal and toast an English muffin with your favorite jelly. The 8 grams of fiber would provide you with a high fiber breakfast. You could also make pizzas on the muffins for lunch or dinner. The fact that they only have 100 calories also makes them a great meal if you are trying to lose weight.

Add these Thomas English Muffins to your grocery list and be on your way to meeting your daily fiber needs!

If you are on a high fiber diet you are probably wanting to treat yourself to something sweet without straying too far from your high fiber diet plan. Fruits are a good source of fiber so try making desserts with fresh fruit. A large pear has approximately 5 grams of fiber - a bit more than an apple. For a low calorie high fiber dessert why not bake a pear with a little butter and brown sugar (go to Cooks.com and type in baked pears - there are several different recipes). There are many low fat, low calorie butters on the market. You could also increase the fiber amount even more by stuffing the pear halves with prunes before baking. Prunes are also a good source of fiber. (continue your reading )

If you are adding fiber to your diet make sure that you add it slowly and increase your water intake. If you increase your fiber intake too quickly it may result in gas and stomach pains. In order to add fiber without gas just increase the amount of dietary fiber you eat daily by a few grams until you reach your recommended amount. Start slow, don’t go from 10 to 35 grams of fiber in one day. It is important that you give your intestinal system time to adjust, and adding too much fiber too quickly can cause discomfort/gas. It is important to drink more water when you add fiber to your diet because if you don’t, the fiber will act as a sponge and absorb the water in your body. This, in turn, can cause constipation, dehydration and bloating.

If you are looking to lose weight and are tired of trying all the fad diets only to lose weight and then gain it all back again, then maybe you should consider eating a low fat high fiber diet. Choosing to eat more fiber for weight loss can result in you shedding pounds, keeping the weight off, and improving your health at the same time.

It is amazing to me that more people are not on a low fat high fiber diet. It seems that a lot of people only think about increasing their dietary fiber intake when they are constipated. People obviously do not know about the benefits of fiber. Fiber and weight loss go hand and hand for many reasons. (continue your reading )

Studies have proven that there is definitely a relationship between cholesterol and fiber in the diet. If you are looking for ways to lower your cholesterol then you should definitely consider increasing the fiber in your diet (if your cholesterol is being monitored by a doctor you should probably let your doctor know about any changes in your diet). The best fiber to lower blood cholesterol is soluble fiber.  According to the Mayo Clinic, (continue your reading )