Why Fiber Is Important To Your Body
Dietary fiber has become the center of many jokes and comedy routines. That’s because it’s associated with the relief of constipation. However, fiber is important for more reasons than that. If you’re trying to shed extra pounds, eating extra fiber can fill you up without adding a lot of extra calories. Not only does it make you feel full quicker, but it also keeps you feeling full longer.
The ABCs of fiber.
There are just two broad categories of fiber. The first is insoluble fiber. That’s the roughage your body can’t digest that builds bulk in your stool, keeps it softer and helps you go more easily. Soluble fiber, on the other hand, dissolves in water and creates a gel, which blocks the absorption of fat, aids in lowering cholesterol, and keeps blood sugar levels more stable. It feeds the beneficial microbes in the digestive tract, and they help your body to be healthy by aiding in digestion and absorption of nutrients.
If weight loss is your goal, increase your fiber content.
As noted before, fiber fills you up without adding a lot of extra calories. It also keeps you feeling full longer. Foods that are high in fiber are normally low in calories, such as apples, peas, strawberries and citrus fruit for high soluble fiber content and seeds, whole grains and the edible skins of most fruits and vegetables for insoluble fiber. A plant based diet will provide more fiber, since animal based foods don’t contain fiber.
You can easily increase fiber in your diet by eating healthier.
No matter what your age, fiber is important. Up to the age of fifty, men need 38 grams of fiber daily and women need 25grams. After the age of fifty that requirement drops, with women only requiring 21 grams and men requiring just 30. One easy way to help fill that requirement is having a meatless meal daily. Including just a half cup of navy beans in your meal will provide 6.5 grams of fiber. An apple as a snack offers 2.9 grams of fiber, with 0.9 grams from soluble fiber and 2.0 from insoluble.
- No matter what your reason for increasing fiber in your diet, do it slowly. If you increase it too fast and suddenly eat a lot more than normal, it can cause some unpleasant reactions in your body, like gas and digestive issues.
- Some popular high fiber foods include pears—5.5 g per medium pear, avocado—6.7 g per cup, raspberries—6.5 g per cup and lentils at 7.3 g per cup.
- One unique way to boost fiber is to snack extra fiber in your diet. Guacamole has about 8grams of fiber per serving. Use whole grain tortilla chips to dip and add another 2 grams of fiber. Hummus is also high in fiber and perfect for dipping.
- Highly processed foods often lack any significant amount of fiber. Not only are they low in fiber, but they’re also often high in sugar and simple carbohydrates, which can cause blood sugar levels to rise quickly.
For more information, contact us today at Reggie C. Fitness
In Houston, TX, I see more and more people over 55 focusing on exercise and diet as a means of staying younger and more viable. While you might think they just run, ride bikes, or do less strenuous exercise, it’s not always true, nor should it be. Actually, weightlifting becomes more important the older you get for a number of reasons. Once past the age of 30, unless you maintain a fitness routine, people start to lose muscle mass. This tendency is called sarcopenia and is part of aging unless you take action to avoid it. Without a program of strength training, sarcopenia can cause a loss of three to five percent of muscle mass every ten years.
You may already exercise or at least understand all the health benefits it offers. People who workout are always looking for ways to make their time working out more productive and provide more benefits to meet their passion for good health and fitness. While having private training has many benefits that any type of one to one program will provide, there’s a lot of benefits from working out in a group that you might not realize.
Whether I see clients personally in Houston, TX, or work with them online, I always hear the same question. “When do my muscles quit getting sore after a workout?” Everyone has had sore muscles at one time or another. The more fit they are, the less frequent and less dramatic the muscle pain is. That’s because people new to fitness have more potential for growth. Don’t give up if you find your muscles hurt the next day. There are quick fixes for sore muscles that can get you back to your workout pain free.
One of the latest methods of working out is LISS cardio. LISS stands for low intensity steady state. Unlike HIIT—high intensity interval training—that alternates the intensity between high intensity and a recovery pace, while attempting to reach 80 to 95% of your maximum heart rate for short periods, LISS is a steady state workout that attempts to maintain a consistent heart rate of approximately 50 to 65 % of heart rate.
If you’ve heard of intermittent fasting—IF—and wanted to try it as a form of weight control, you might get confused because there are so many ways to do it. There are fasts you can do for 24-48 hours when you avoid meals and consume just liquids that have no or few calories like tea, coffee and water, eating regularly at other times or even feasting one healthy foods at least one day. The other type of intermittent fasting is just fasting for a window of time each day. It typically includes fasting for 16 hours and eating in an 8-hour window. The type of intermittent fasting you choose depends on your circumstances and overall health.
Being a mom can be hectic. Leaving little time for yourself. I have clients in Houston, TX, who can barely make it to the gym one day a week and ask for workouts for busy moms to do at home. It’s one of the main reasons I provide the access to online sessions. That allows people to get their workout in shorter sessions throughout the day, like ten minutes each, three times a day or two fifteen minute sessions. That’s right, if your day is hectic, you can break down your workout to short sessions you can fit in between task and do when you take your break. You can even get the kids involved or do the sessions while they nap.
There’s nothing better than eating a cold piece of fruit on a hot day in Houston, TX. In fact, I know people that freeze grapes and snack on them during the hottest day. They’re like Mother Nature’s Popsicle. Fruit is a good option as part of a breakfast. It offers a higher sugar content to get you going, but the fiber slows the glucose entering your blood stream so you always have a constant stream of energy. The fiber also fills you up and keeps you full longer.
While summer is barely here, warm weather started a while ago and will last well into fall. There’s still time to get bikini body ready and show off your body at the end of the season. In fact, if you start right now, imagine the progress you’ll make by August or September and how great you’ll look at the end of the year. You’ll be ringing in the New Year with a whole new you that’s gorgeous and fit.
We focus on results at RCF in Houston, TX. You don’t have to spend a lot of money on equipment to get the results you want. Bodyweight exercises can get you in shape quickly. One of the best bodyweight exercises for both the lower body and upper body is squats. They provide a functional fitness workout, exercising the muscles that you use in everyday movements, like climbing stairs, bending, walking and carrying heavy loads.