Take advantage of high fibre foods to fill you up for fewer calories

There are two types of fibre and we should aim to eat both kinds for a healthy and filling diet.

The first is the kind we often think of as "roughage" such as the bran coating on wheat grains or brown rice, or the skins on potatoes and apples. This type of fibre is the insoluble kind, which means it will help fill our stomach but it cannot be broken down and absorbed into our body, therefore we don’t digest any of it’s calories.

The second type, soluble fibre, is found within the cells of many fruits, vegetables and grains but particularly in oats, barley, apple and all types of beans/pulses. It also cannot be absorbed by our bodies, but along the digestive tract it can be broken down and some used as food by the friendly bacteria in our gut. This kind of fibre is thought to be particularly helpful in lowering cholesterol levels.

Soluble fibre absorbs lots of water and swells up, which helps to keep things moving nicely along our digestive tract thus helping to prevent constipation and the build-up of unfriendly bacteria in our gut. It is important therefore to ensure you drink plenty of fluids on a high fibre diet.

Foods with high fibre content include:

Bran cereals, Oats and barley, Jacket potatoes, Apples

Apricots Prunes Figs Strawberries

Peas & Beans Brown Rice Currants, raisins, sultanas

Wholemeal and wholegrain bread.

You will find a good recipe for a high fibre breakfast under Recipes- Breakfast. It is Oaty Yoghurt and prunes.