The last couple of weeks my Nutrition Nibbles videos have been focused on educating all of you on fiber!! I know it doesn’t sound like a very exciting subject, but maybe it would grab more of your attention if I told you that the lack of fiber in American’s diets is the number one nutritional contribution in the rising obesity epidemic!! And, to make this more personal... to anyone out there struggling with their weight, it is crucial in losing unwanted pounds and keeping them off. Simply stated, fiber is what differentiates a good carb from a bad carb. Americans eat way too many bad carbs...it’s what we tend to chronically overeat and it’s what has given carbs in general a bad rap!! if you have been watching my Nutrition Nibbles videos, you know that a decent source of fiber/good carb is defined as 3 grams of fiber or more per serving and the recommendation is to consume 25 grams of fiber per day.
So why is fiber so important???
Fiber in food expands in our stomachs...it pushes against little receptors in our stomach linings that send messages to our brain that says I’m FULL. The more our brain gets that message, the more likely we will stop eating. In fact, individuals who eat the recommended 25 grams of fiber per day consume on average 25% fewer calories than those who consume the 10-12 grams of fiber found in the average American diet... simply because they get fuller faster.
Fiber stabilizes our blood sugar. Why do we care?? Because the more stable our blood sugar stays throughout the day (as in the fewer spikes we have from sugary foods and foods void of fiber/bad carbs) the leaner we will be at the end of the day. Every time our blood sugar spikes from eating the bad carbs, our body is quick to take that extra sugar and put it in our fat stores.
Hand in hand with those spikes in blood sugar comes spikes in our energy levels. We eat bad carbs and our blood sugar spikes and then we experience a reactive drop in energy as our bodies work to get the sugar out of our blood quickly. Guess what we do when our energy levels drop low?? We eat more bad carbs to get our energy back up!!
When foods are stripped of fiber they are also stripped of nutrients. So when whole wheat bread is processed into white bread we lose fiber and nutrients. So not only will choosing good carbs help you manage your weight more effectively, it will keep you healthier!!
So here’s your challenge. Choose 5 fruits and vegetables every day. That will give you about 15 grams of fiber and then get your other 10 grams of fiber from whole grain breads, cereals, crackers and pastas. If you make this a regular practice you will have more energy, eat less and lose those unwanted pounds once and for all!!
