By Sandee LaMotte, CNN Updated 6:30 PM ET, Mon
January 18, 2021
Easy ways to add fiber to your diet
Mix Greek yogurt with berries, whole-grain granola and some
nuts. Before you know it, you've added a couple of grams of fiber and had a
great low-cal dessert.
A cup of hummus has 15 grams of fiber. Made of chickpeas and
spices, hummus makes a great snack. Use whole-wheat pita points to boost the
fiber even more.
Flaxseed is packed with fiber. One tablespoon has about 3 grams,
so a little goes a long way. Add a few grains of this nutty-flavored seed to
your yogurt parfait or salad, or grind it and add to meatloaf or other recipes.
You might be surprised to find out that a cup of sliced avocado
contains 10 grams of fiber and a lot of good-for-your-heart fat, despite the
calorie count. Think past guacamole. Try spreading avocado on toast for
breakfast, adding slices to your quesadilla, spread on sandwiches and even as a
basis for chocolate pudding.
Winter squashes are good choices for fiber as well, ranging from
2 to 4 grams per cup serving. Try out a new recipe, such as this spaghetti
squash, perfect for a low-carb diet.
Beans of all kinds are super choices to add fiber to your diet.
A cup of baked, navy or kidney beans contains 19 grams of fiber; black beans
come in at 29 grams. Green beans have 3½ grams per cup -- not bad, but think
beyond that dinner staple for maximum fiber intake.
Lentils are another type of legume, like beans, that pack a
fiber power punch. A cup of these tasty seeds has 16 grams of fiber.
Finally, a word of caution: Any addition of fiber requires an
equal addition of water to keep it moving through your digestive system. So
drink up!
And if you're not used to eating fiber, add it slowly over a few weeks to avoid
bloating, flatulence and other issues that may erupt.
Fiber helps stave off heart disease, cancer and digestive
problems while helping control cholesterol, blood sugar and weight gain. But
Americans get an average of only 15 grams a day instead of the 25 to 30 that
doctors recommend.
It's not hard to add fiber to your daily diet. Start by learning your top fiber
choices and then get creative, like this salad that combines beans and peaches
with the roughage of lettuce.
Eating fresh fruit is an easy way to add fiber each day. Apples
add about 4½ grams; bananas and oranges have 3 grams.
At 6 grams each, pears have some of the highest fiber content in
the fruit family. Eat them raw, in salads or poached in wine or pomegranate
juice for dessert.
Fresh berries are an especially easy way to punch up your fiber
intake. These bite-size beauties are chock full of fiber; a cup of most berries
adds 3 to 4 grams and satisfies your sweet tooth, to boot.
Whole-grain cereal is an easy way to jump-start your daily
intake of fiber. A cup of cooked oatmeal has 5 grams, and you can easily add
another 3 or 4 with fruit and nuts. Other good choices are whole-bran cereals;
if they are too wholesome for your taste, try adding a half-cup to your
favorite brand to adjust.
Multigrain bread is another easy way to add fiber to your diet.
Make a sandwich out of this healthy choice, and you've added 2 grams of fiber.
Trying an unusual grain each week is another great way to pump
up your fiber intake. Start by replacing white rice with brown, and you've
added 3 grams. A cup of amaranth, an ancient seed, has 5 grams of fiber. Even
better, a cup of dry bulgur has 26 grams. Quinoa has 3 grams of fiber and all
nine essential amino acids, making it the "perfect protein" at 4
grams per serving.
Mix Greek yogurt with berries, whole-grain granola and some
nuts. Before you know it, you've added a couple of grams of fiber and had a
great low-cal dessert.
A cup of hummus has 15 grams of fiber. Made of chickpeas and
spices, hummus makes a great snack. Use whole-wheat pita points to boost the
fiber even more.
Flaxseed is packed with fiber. One tablespoon has about 3 grams,
so a little goes a long way. Add a few grains of this nutty-flavored seed to
your yogurt parfait or salad, or grind it and add to meatloaf or other recipes.
You might be surprised to find out that a cup of sliced avocado
contains 10 grams of fiber and a lot of good-for-your-heart fat, despite the
calorie count. Think past guacamole. Try spreading avocado on toast for
breakfast, adding slices to your quesadilla, spread on sandwiches and even as a
basis for chocolate pudding.
Winter squashes are good choices for fiber as well, ranging from
2 to 4 grams per cup serving. Try out a new recipe, such as this spaghetti
squash, perfect for a low-carb diet.
Beans of all kinds are super choices to add fiber to your diet.
A cup of baked, navy or kidney beans contains 19 grams of fiber; black beans
come in at 29 grams. Green beans have 3½ grams per cup -- not bad, but think
beyond that dinner staple for maximum fiber intake.
Lentils are another type of legume, like beans, that pack a
fiber power punch. A cup of these tasty seeds has 16 grams of fiber.
Finally, a word of caution: Any addition of fiber requires an
equal addition of water to keep it moving through your digestive system. So
drink up!
And if you're not used to eating fiber, add it slowly over a few weeks to avoid
bloating, flatulence and other issues that may erupt.
Fiber helps stave off heart disease, cancer and digestive
problems while helping control cholesterol, blood sugar and weight gain. But
Americans get an average of only 15 grams a day instead of the 25 to 30 that
doctors recommend.
It's not hard to add fiber to your daily diet. Start by learning your top fiber
choices and then get creative, like this salad that combines beans and peaches
with the roughage of lettuce.
Eating fresh fruit is an easy way to add fiber each day. Apples
add about 4½ grams; bananas and oranges have 3 grams.
At 6 grams each, pears have some of the highest fiber content in
the fruit family. Eat them raw, in salads or poached in wine or pomegranate
juice for dessert.
Fresh berries are an especially easy way to punch up your fiber
intake. These bite-size beauties are chock full of fiber; a cup of most berries
adds 3 to 4 grams and satisfies your sweet tooth, to boot.
Whole-grain cereal is an easy way to jump-start your daily
intake of fiber. A cup of cooked oatmeal has 5 grams, and you can easily add
another 3 or 4 with fruit and nuts. Other good choices are whole-bran cereals;
if they are too wholesome for your taste, try adding a half-cup to your
favorite brand to adjust.
Multigrain bread is another easy way to add fiber to your diet.
Make a sandwich out of this healthy choice, and you've added 2 grams of fiber.
Trying an unusual grain each week is another great way to pump
up your fiber intake. Start by replacing white rice with brown, and you've
added 3 grams. A cup of amaranth, an ancient seed, has 5 grams of fiber. Even
better, a cup of dry bulgur has 26 grams. Quinoa has 3 grams of fiber and all
nine essential amino acids, making it the "perfect protein" at 4
grams per serving.
Mix Greek yogurt with berries, whole-grain granola and some
nuts. Before you know it, you've added a couple of grams of fiber and had a
great low-cal dessert.
(CNN)Eating fried foods may increase your risk for
major heart disease and stroke, according to a new analysis of existing
research.
Compared to those who ate the least, people who ate the most
fried food per week had a 28% higher risk of major cardiovascular events, a 22%
greater risk of coronary heart disease and a 37% heightened risk of heart
failure, according to the study published
Monday in the journal Heart.
Compared to those who ate the least, people who ate the most
fried food per week had a 37% heightened risk of heart failure, a new analysis
of existing research found.
Each additional weekly serving of 114 grams or 4 ounces (½ cup)
of fried foods increased the risk for heart attack and stroke by 3%, heart
disease by 2% and heart failure by 12%, the study found. A medium McDonald's french fry
serving, for example, is 117 grams.
No associations were found for deaths from cardiovascular
disease or from any cause, but the researchers said this might be because of
the relatively small numbers involved in some of the studies.
Fried food and trans fats
When food is fried, it absorbs some of the fat from the oil,
potentially increasing calories. In addition, commercially fried and processed
foods can often contain trans fats, created by an industrialized process that
adds hydrogen to liquid vegetable oils to make them more solid (think of
semisoft margarine and shortening).
The food industry loves trans fats because they are cheap to
produce, last a long time and give foods a great taste and texture.
Besides fried foods, you'll find trans fats in coffee creamer,
cakes, pie crusts, frozen pizza, cookies, crackers, biscuits and dozens of
other processed foods.
The US Food and Drug Association banned trans fats in 2015, but
has extended time frames for the industry -- the latest gave
companies until June 18, 2019, to stop manufacturing foods and until January 1,
2021, for these products to work their way through the marketplace.
There is still a loophole, however. The FDA allows companies to
label a food as "0 grams" of trans fats if one serving of the food
contains less than 0.5 grams.
If people eat multiple servings of such foods, the small doses
can quickly add up, experts say, contributing to cardiovascular disease, diabetes
and other conditions, such as dementia.
According to the American Heart
Association, trans fats raise your bad cholesterol levels and lower
your good cholesterol levels. The AHA recommends replacing trans fats from
fried and processed foods with monounsaturated or polyunsaturated fats, such as
olive and canola oil.
Despite the evidence behind the health impact of trans fats,
this meta analysis of studies can only show an association between
consumption of fried foods and cardiovascular risk.
The "findings of this study are consistent with current
guidance to limit intake of fried foods but cannot be considered as providing
definitive evidence on the role of fried food consumption in cardiovascular
health," said Alun Hughes, professor of cardiovascular physiology and
pharmacology at University College London, in a statement. Hughes was not
involved in the study.
That's because most studies of this kind reply on study
participants' recall of the amount and type of fried foods eaten, which is
subject to error. In addition, high consumption of fried foods is likely to be
associated with overeating and obesity, lack of exercise and other unhealthy
behaviors that can contribute to heart disease, experts said.
"If the relationship is causal, we can't assume that this
association is definitely down to the fat content of the foods, as many of
these foods are highly processed and often contain both fat and carbohydrate
together," said registered dietitian Duane Mellor, a senior teaching
fellow at Aston Medical School in Birmingham, United Kingdom.
"So, when considering this type of study, it is important
to consider that although reducing fat intake is a logical part of a healthy
diet, it is also important to look at what foods are eaten in its place,"
said Mellor, who was not involved in the study.
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