Our Health Nut and Registered Dietitian, Molly Morgan, answers our customers’ most pressing health and nutrition questions and recommends her favorite products!
If you’d like Molly to answer one of your questions in a future blog post, please email your question to email@example.com. If we feature your question in The Nutty Scoop, we will also send you a pound of your favorite Nuts.com product.
Q: I’m on a weight loss diet and need a fiber product that tastes good and has high fiber content. What would you suggest? – Rob
A: Fiber is an important part of a weight loss eating plan (and any eating plan) because fiber helps to keep the body full and slows the digestion of food through the digestive system. There is a big difference between fiber and other food components like fat and protein, because fiber is part of plant foods that passes through your system basically undigested. So how can this non-digesting material do so much good?
Fiber, specifically the soluble type (meaning it dissolves in water), is linked to lowering bad (LDL) blood cholesterol levels. It can also slow the release of sugars into the body, which leads to better blood sugar control. Soluble fiber is found in foods like beans, oats and flax seed.
It’s a great idea to add foods to your diet that are high in fiber! With the right mix of foods, you can easily achieve your daily fiber goals. A daily goal for fiber should be between 25 – 38 grams or more per day. Reminder: When increasing fiber intake, make sure to increase water intake, because the extra bulk can be difficult to digest without plenty of water.
Try these tasty foods that are high in fiber:
- High Fiber Hot Cereal – each serving has 10 grams of fiber and is made from a blend of ground oatmeal, flax seed wheat germ, oat bran and wheat bran.
- Chia Seeds – This seed is loaded with heart helping omega-3 fats, plus each ounce has 11 grams of fiber! Try sprinkling a teaspoon on salad, in cereal or yogurt. Or try my Chia Seed Pudding Recipe.
- Dried Figs – Figs are great to curb a sweet craving, diced and added to cereal or trail mix, or just snack on! Each serving of figs has 5 grams of fiber! Try other dried fruits as well that range in fiber content from about 2 – 5 grams of fiber per serving.
- Quinoa – Although technically a seed, quinoa cooks up like a grain and is a great stand-in for side dishes and salads. It also provides a great fiber boost. Quinoa and most whole grains — like brown rice, millet, or barley — will have around 3 grams of fiber per serving.