Week 7 - Healthier Lifestyle Program... FIBER!

Week 7: Add Fiber to your lifestyle. Remember we are adding and deleting things in our life to better our health, and we’ve already added the fruits and vegetables; there is more health to fiber than just fruits and veggies.

There are two types of fiber: Soluble (dissolves to form a gel in your system and is needed to lower blood cholesterol and glucose levels), and Insoluble (pushes what you’ve eaten through the digestive tract).

Why Fiber? It plays a role in preventing disease in your intestines, colon, rectum, and bowel, and keeping your GI Tract healthy is important because it is one of the main systems; it has to do with absorbing nutrients throughout your physical body.

Men should intake 30-38 grams, and women should intake 21-25 grams of fiber a day. Increase fiber in your diet gradually over a period of a few weeks so the natural bacteria in your digestive system will adjust to the change, and drink plenty of water. If you do it all at once you will bloat and be gassy.

Whole foods such as the following are the best because the fiber pills and supplements won’t have the nutrients:
• Grains and whole-grain products
• Fruits
• Vegetables
• Beans, peas and other legumes
• Nuts and seeds
;-)