Beloved and enjoy themselves

  

The Mayo Clinic's tips on adding this essential nutrient into your daily diet
by Carolina Santos-Neves

fiber 101
recipes

Fiber Recipes

D ietary fiber may not be a trendy health topic like antioxidants or omega-3s, but to ignore fiber's benefits would leave us wanting more. Literally. Fiber helps regulate blood-sugar levels and fullness handmade jewelry, reduces the risk of heart disease, keeps our digestive tract functioning properly, and plays a key role in weight loss and maintaining a healthy weight, making it an essential nutrient. We interviewed the director of clinical dietetics/nutrition at the Mayo Clinic, Jennifer Kay Nelson, MS, RD, LD, and she gave us a breakdown of the fruitful (and veggie-ful) world of fiber.

Dietary fiber can be divided into two groups: soluble and insoluble fiber. Soluble fiber dissolves in water and is found in whole foods such as oats, peas, beans, apples, citrus, carrots, and barley. It's known for lowering blood cholesterol and glucose levels. Insoluble fiber, which does not dissolve in water, is contained in whole-wheat flour, wheat bran, nuts, and a large number of vegetables. This promotes the smooth passage of foods through the digestive system and increases stool bulk. Ultimately, Nelson believes that one should focus less on the type of fiber and more on just consuming dietary fiber, period.

The average American adult is eating only 15 grams of dietary fiber a day but should be ingesting almost double that amount. "Women 19 to 50 should consume at least 25 grams a day, and those 51 and older need at least 21 grams," advises Nelson. "Men ages 19 to 50 should consume 38 grams a day, and those 51 and older, about 30 grams." Rest assured that boosting your fiber intake won't consign you to a regimen of cardboard-tasting cereal and powdered drinks, nor does it require eliminating a lot of the foods you love. Follow these tips and reach for foods that are naturally high in fiber, like blackberries, lentils, and grains like barley cloud backup.

Tips:

Go Slow and Steady

Pace yourself when adding fiber to your diet. Nelson tells clients to introduce incrementally more fiber on a weekly basis. One week, replace white bread or rice with whole grains. The following week, try half of your sandwich with a cup of lentil soup, or swap your cookie for a bowl of berries. Because everyone's digestive tract responds differently to fiber, it's best to increase slowly.

Add On

Just because a recipe doesn't call for certain ingredients doesn't mean you can't improvise and add them to your meal. Having a salad? Add some beans. Making pasta? Throw in some broccoli and peas. These add-ins all help boost your intake of dietary fiber.

Don't Trash the Peel

If the peel is edible, eat it! The skin contains fiber, and it protects other nutrients from becoming irrelevant. Every little bit counts.

Meatless Meals

Nelson is a believer in substituting legumes for meat: "Go meatless a couple times a week, because a majority of legumes are high in protein and fiber."

Fiber for Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner

It's best to try to incorporate a little bit of fiber into all your meals throughout the day, instead of loading up on fiber at one meal. Not only will this increase the variety of fibrous foods in your diet, but it will also allow for your body to adjust to this nutrient's benefits. Another plus is that fibrous foods require more chewing, which gives your body more time to register that it's no longer hungry, thus reducing the chance of overeating. Fibrous foods are also considered less "energy dense" foods: They provide the opposite of empty calories, meaning they contain fewer calories in a given volume of food. And they help prevent spikes in your blood sugar, because fiber slows down your digestion and the absorption of glucose ageLOC Me.

Meet Your New Fibrous Friends

Natural sources for fiber are your best choices, but if you don't feel like eating an apple (4.4 grams), banana (3.1 grams), or Asian pear (10 grams) as your afternoon snack, here are some store-bought alternatives that are fairly high in fiber:

Love Nutella? Reach for a Jŏcalat Chocolate Hazelnut Lärabar instead. One bar will satisfy your sweet tooth while providing ten times more fiber than the one-tablespoon serving found in the chocolate-hazelnut spread.
Pair your cheese with Special K Multi-Grain Crackers. These contain two more grams of fiber per serving than Mini Stoned Wheat Thins, so your digestive tract will thank you.
The next time you serve chips with salsa, opt for Food Should Taste Good Cantina chips. One serving has 3 grams of fiber.
One bag of Orville Redenbacher's Smart Pop! Kettle Korn Mini Bag has 4 grams of fiber. How much fiber does a rice cake have? Zero.
Who doesn't love granola? Make a healthy choice with a serving of Kashi GoLean Crunch!, which clocks in at 8 grams of dietary fiber, almost one third of the recommended daily amount.  

Last month I cooked a Thanksgiving dinner and a Christmas dinner. The only thing missing was a crowd around the table. Why the feast? I was developing recipes for Roast Turkey, Brown Sugar and Mustard Baked Ham hong kong business school, Maple Mashed Sweet Potatoes, Lightened Green Bean Casserole, a Holiday Salad (with pomegranate seeds and pepitas) and Harvest Apple Stuffing. I also created some recipes using leftover ham and turkey and for a few fun things you can make for the holidays to give as gifts like Peppermint Bark and Chocolate Chip Cookies in a Jar. The recipes were for Grocery Outlet and will be featured in a brochure for customers.

Having never hosted my own holiday dinners for 10+ people, I learned a lot! I shopped for as much of the dishes as possible at Grocery Outlet, after doing my planning and creating shopping lists. Of course making lists of what you need to buy is important, but being open to swapping out ingredients if you find something delicious and on sale is a good idea too. I was planning to use dried cranberries in the salad but found pomegranates were a better choice at the time.

Shopping at Grocery Outlet I found many more organic products than I was expecting. There were organic fresh, frozen and packaged foods, and all were very competitively priced. Grocery Outlet has come a long way since I used to shop at the San Francisco store affectionately referred to as the "canned food store."

When it comes to holiday meals, the main thing is to have an enjoyable time with your family and guests. If that means buying a pie instead of baking one, so be it! Concentrate on putting your energy into the things that matter most to you don't make yourself crazy trying to do everything. Most importantly? Have fun!

So here are my tips for Thanksgiving:

1. Divide and conquer! Holiday meals are more elaborate and involved. No one person should have to do it all. Letting guests or family members take responsibility for a dish or a course gets them more involved and is nice way of sharing vintage tube.

2. Think big. Contrary to popular belief, many people love leftovers! Especially roast turkey or ham, not to mention stuffing and gravy. Make enough so guests can take some home or so you can make great soups, sandwiches, enchiladas, stuffed crepes and more. You'll be amazed at all the ways you can turn leftovers into fresh meals.

3. Plan ahead. Not only is planning important, but preparing some things like appetizers, side dishes or desserts ahead of time will make the actual holiday much less stressful. Not everything can be prepared ahead, but sometimes even components like salad dressing or pie crust can be made days before you need to use them.

4. Enjoy seasonal flavors. Whether or not you're roasting a turkey or baking a ham, Autumn fruits and vegetables like apples, pomegranates, pears, cranberries, sweet potatoes, brussels sprouts and squash are welcome additions to the holiday table. Even if you serve them in new ways, they will make everyone feel the holiday glow.

5. Start early. Holidays are really about spending time together, not just eating. So plan to get together early in the day. Have appetizers and drinks network, socialize before sitting down to the main event.

Wishing you and your family a very happy holiday season!