LIFESTYLE BLOGS
LIFESTYLE BLOGS

 

There are many reasons you may have to want to eat more fiber.  It may be as part of a weight-loss plan, you may just need to get “regular,” but basically it’s just a part of a balanced diet.  Here are some ways to sneak that extra fiber into your everyday diet:

  1. Eat cereal every day for breakfast.
  2. Eat two apples every day.
  3. Make a yogurt mix every Wednesday for breakfast.
  4. Eat baby carrots and broccoli florets dipped into low-fat ranch dressing as you afternoon snack three days a week.
  5. Keep a container of gorp in your car and office for the munchies.
  6. Switch to whole grain crackers.
  7. Mix your regular cereal with the high-test stuff.
  8. Add kidney beans or chickpeas to your next salad.
  9. Make sure that the first ingredient in whole grain products has the word “whole” in it, as in “whole wheat,” or “whole grain.”
  10. Every week, try one “exotic” grain.
  11. Once a week, make pearl barley (which doesn’t require any soaking before cooking) as a side dish.
  12. Sneak in oatmeal.
  13. Use whole wheat bread to make your sandwich every day.
  14. Every week, switch from a white food to a brown food.
  15. Spread your sandwich with 1/2 cup hummus.
  16. Make beans a part of at least one meal a day.
  17. Add pureed cauliflower to mashed potatoes.
  18. Have a beet salad for dinner.
  19. Make rice pudding for dessert tonight.
  20. Snack on popcorn.
  21. Switch to whole wheat flour when baking.
  22. Throw some flaxseeds, wheat germ, or other high-fiber add-ins into batter.
  23. Eat the skin of your baked and sweet potatoes.
  24. Start every dinner with a mixed green salad.
  25. Always add lettuce and tomato slices rather than cheese to sandwiches.
  26. Use beans or lentils as the main protein source for dinner once or twice a week.
  27. Make your fiber sources suit the seasons.
  28. Snack on dried fruit every day.
  29. Drink your fiber.

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You hear a lot about superfoods, but mainly how great they are to have in your diet. Here’s another list of foods you should consider throwing in your grocery basket:

  Beets - Why they’re healthy:  Folate and betaine (which can help lower your risk of heart disease), and their pigments may help fight cancer.
How to eat them:  Not from a jar, but fresh and uncooked.

Cabbage - Why it’s healthy:  Few calories, and sulforaphane helps reduce cancer risk.
How to eat it:  In a salad, or on a burger.

Guava - Why it’s healthy: Fiber, potassium, lycopene (which helps fight prostate cancer).
How to eat it: It’s all edible, from rind to seeds. May be a little hard to find, but high end supermarkets or Latin grocery stores should stock it.

Swiss Chard - Why it’s healthy: Lutein and zeaxanthin (which both help protect retinas from the damages of aging).
How to eat it: Sautéd with olive oil and garlic, seasoned with salt and pepper and served with grilled steaks and chicken, or pan-seared fish.

Cinnamon - Why it’s healthy:  Helps control blood sugar, which affects your risk of heart disease.
How to eat it:  Sprinkled on coffee or oatmeal.

Purslane - Why it’s healthy:  Melatonin (may inhibit cancer growth), omega-3 fats.
How to eat it:  In a salad as an alternative or addition to lettuce.

Pomegranate juice -  Why it’s healthy:  Improves bloodflow to the heart, decreases systolic blood pressure, vitamin C.
How to eat it: POM Wonderful makes a 100 per cent pomegranate juice with no added sugars - a small glass is all you need to get the many benefits.

Goji berries -  Why they’re healthy:  Antioxidants, may reduce insulin resistance (a risk factor for diabetes).
How to eat them:  Dried or fresh, alone or in yogurt, oatmeal or on cereal.

Dried plums -  Why they’re healthy:  Antioxidants that fight structural damage to cells, which is thought to be one of the main causes for cancer.
How to eat them:  As an appetizer wrapped in prosciutto.

Pumpkin seeds -  Why they’re healthy:  Magnesium.
How to eat them:  Shells and all.

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