ZAR - Fibre!

There's been 2 things I've always been very happy to have avoided. The first is coldsores (which this blog has nothing to do with!) and the second is piles (which it has something to do with!) I'm not keen to talk about the in's and out's of my dailies (as I'm sure you're not keen to hear about them!), suffice to say I'm extremely regular and lucky to be so.

I put this down to my diet which includes particularly oats, grain bread and plenty of fresh fruit and veg. These all contain fibre which is so important for keeping your colon and digestive system healthy and this is essential for long term health. The digestive system breaks down food to provide essential nutrients and energy and is also a crucial component to you immune system. As well as this, high fibre foods make you feel fuller for longer as it takes longer to break down. Because of this, they release glucose into the bloodstream more gradually which helps maintain balanced blood sugar levels.

Eating fibre is pretty easy. Choose wholegrains and brown rice over white, eat plenty of fruit and vegetables. Choose whole fruit over juice. Increase your intake of legumes (beans, lentils, peas) and add raw and unsalted nuts and seeds to your cooking.

Foods particularly high in fibre are avocado, oats, brown rice and wholewheat pasta, baked beans, broccoli, dried apricots. As a guide, men should consume 30g of fibre per day and women 25g.