Simple Ways to Get More Fiber

Click on this link to learn about how to start a cleanse.

The ADA recommends a daily intake of about 20-35 grams of fiber. Whether you need a little more or less may depend on your unique nutritional needs. What I've found in my nutritional evaluations is that clients seem to consume on average about 9 grams of fiber or less a day. This shows that many people need to find out which foods are high in fiber and which aren't. Lets see how we can revamp a very average day's menu to get some more fiber.

Lets start with the low fiber menu:

Breakfast

1 fried egg

Lunch

Linguine noodles with plain tomato sauce

Dinner

Chicken breast and white rice

Total Fiber: 5 grams

Which foods contain fiber? Did you guess the tomato sauce and white rice? The tomato sauce may contain about 4 grams of fiber and the rice, only 1 gram. We can find more negatives of eating like this but we'll just focus on fiber for now.

Now, we're going to revamp our menu. It's so easy!

Breakfast

1 fried egg and homemade whole wheat toast

Lunch

Linguine with tomato sauce, steamed broccoli and a green salad

Dinner

Chicken breast with brown rice and steamed sweet potatoes

Snack

1 medium organic apple

Visit my site at www.consultations4health.com for more information.

By adding a slice of whole wheat toast, broccoli, salad, sweet potatoes, brown rice and an apple, we now have around 25 grams of fiber for the day! It's easy to become fiber-conscious. Just think in terms of vegetables, fruit and whole grains and add them to your meals.


These statements have not been approved by the FDA and are for educational purposes only. This information is not intended to treat, diagnose or cure any disease whether physical or mental. Please see a licensed health care professional for all medical concerns.

Don't Throw Away Your Seeds!

Do you usually try to avoid eating seeds? While certain seeds shouldn't be eaten, others contain loads of nutrients. Lets look at good seeds vs. bad seeds.

The Good

Watermelon seeds: These seeds are edible and contain immune boosting nutrients such as zinc, selenium, vitamin E, and essential fats. They also are rich in protein.

To get the benefits of watermelon seeds, make a fresh juice.

Raspberry Seeds: Present in raspberries is ellagic acid which has been shown to neutralize carcinogens before they can damage DNA. One cup of raspberries contains about 8 grams of dietary fiber.

Frozen raspberries are great in smoothies. For a smoothie that blends seeds seamlessly into the drink, use a high-powered blender.

Tomato Seeds

Tomato seeds are a source of lycopene. This is an antioxidant that has been extensively studied and proven to have many health protective benefits.

To get the most of out of tomatoes, blend together a marinara sauce to make the nutrients available from the seeds. Team with broccoli and healthy oils to make the nutrients more bio-available.

There are more healthy seeds out there. These are just a few examples.


The Inedible Seeds or “Bad” Seeds

Some seeds are unsafe to eat. Seeds from apples, pears, peaches, plums, cherries and apricots contain varying amounts of cyanogenic glycosides (cyanide) that could cause sickness and even death. More amounts of the poison would be ingested from chewing as opposed to swallowing these types of seeds. So please don't swallow or blend these seeds into your drinks or food!

So the lesson here is don't spit out all of your seeds. Learn about which ones are good for you and which ones could be dangerous.

Visit my site at www.consultations4health.com.

For more information, see the sources below.


www.about.com
www.whfoods.com
The New Optimum Nutrition Bible by Patrick Holford

For a healthy, high quality whey protein to add to smoothies, go to the link below:


Disclaimer: These statements have not been approved by the FDA. The information here is for educational purposes only and is not intended to treat, diagnose or cure any disease whether physical or mental. Please see a licensed health care professional for all medical concerns.