Resolving the Fiber Deficit
Monday, June 8th, 2009
If your goal is to lose weight without hunger, improve your energy, and reduce your risk of disease the solution is here. Two-thirds of American adults are overweight, half of them obese. After a decade of low-fat and low-carb diets, Americans are heavier than ever. With The F-Factor Diet, you won’t focus on which foods you must omit, instead you focus on adding food into your diet in order to lose weight and keep it off.
What is fiber and why should we eat it?
Fiber has zero calories (it’s the indigestible part of carbohydrates). After a decade of banishing carbs from your diet, The F-Factor Diet teaches you how to eat carbs and still lose weight! While the calories on the F-Factor Diet are low (which is ultimately what leads to weight loss), you would never know it because the fiber-rich foods keep you feeling so full.
There are numerous benefits to eating more fiber beyond just losing weight. Studies show that fiber-rich foods not only help you to lose weight but increase your chances of longevity. High-fiber diets alleviate constipation and reduce the risk factors for cardiovascular disease, adult onset diabetes, colon cancer, breast cancer and hypertension.
Dietary fiber comes in two forms: soluble and insoluble. Although you should get both soluble and insoluble fiber in your diet every day, there is no need to fixate on one type or the other. Because most whole plant foods contain both types of fiber, just increasing your intake of foods high in total fiber will provide you with beneficial amounts of both. Soluble fiber swells in your stomach, providing bulk and giving you a feeling of fullness. Good sources of soluble fiber include dried beans and legumes, oatmeal, oat bran, barley and citrus fruits. Soluble fiber also has cholesterol-lowering properties because it acts like a sponge, absorbing cholesterol and pulling it out of your body. Insoluble fiber, usually referred to as roughage, includes the woody or structural parts of plants such as broccoli, apples, wheat bran, and whole-grain cereals. Insoluble fiber tends to speed up the passage of material through the digestive tract and help reduce the risk of colon cancer and diverticular disease. It is often referred to as “nature’s broom.”
How much fiber should we be consuming?
Despite the ADA (American Dietetic Association) recommendation that Americans eat 30-35g of fiber per day, the typical American only eats 9-11g of fiber per day. People often think of fiber as dry and tasteless, but currently fiber is being touted as a wonder-nutrient. Now, one could integrate fiber into their diets by choking down tall glasses of Metamucil, but that’s certainly not the most pleasant — or tasty — way to get one’s fiber. Take a look below at a before and after sample day of delicious meals with fiber:
Calories Fiber (g)
BREAKFAST
Typical Breakfast
Granola (1/2 cup) 230 3
Sliced banana 90 2
Total 320 5
High-Fiber Breakfast
Fiber One cereal (1/2 cup) 60 14
Blueberries (3/4 cup) 60 5
Total 120 19
Fight food cravings with high-fiber cereal.
LUNCH
Typical Lunch
Turkey sandwich on white
bread with mayonnaise 265 0
Potato Chips (1 oz) 150 0
Total 365 0
High-Fiber Lunch
Turkey sandwich on whole-
wheat bread with
lettuce, tomato and
mustard 195 10
Soy chips (1 oz) 70 2
Total 265 12
Fiber and protein at every meal makes losing weight no big deal.
SNACK
Typical Snack
2 oz. pretzels 230 0
Total 230 0
High-Fiber Snack
1 oz. pistachios 65 3
8 dried apricot halves 60 4
Total 225 7
High-fiber snacks fill you up without filling you out.
DINNER
Typical Chinese Takeout
Wonton Soup 125 0
Kung Pao Chicken 1170 4
White Rice (1 cup) 240 1
Total 1535 5
High-Fiber Chinese Takeout
Vegetable Soup 40 2
Chicken and Broccoli 250 6
Brown Rice (1 cup) 240 4
Total 530 12
Avoid late-night snacking with a high-fiber dinner.
TOTAL DAY (From meals above)
Typical Day 2450 Calories 10g Fiber
High-Fiber Day 1140 50g Fiber
The more fiber a food has, the fuller you feel, making you less likely to overeat throughout the day. In addition, most high-fiber foods have few calories. Eating high-fiber foods is the secret to losing weight without hunger.
Tanya Zuckerbrot, MS, RD is a nutritionist and founder of www.Skinnyandthecity.com. She is also the creator of The F-Factor Diet™, an innovative nutritional program she has used for more than ten years to provide hundreds of her clients with all the tools they need to achieve easy weight loss and maintenance, improved health and well-being. For more information log onto www.FFactorDiet.com.
