Up your fibre intake
The dietary fibre found in fruits, vegetables and cereals is essential to our wellbeing. As fibre can't be completely broken down by the digestive system, it essentially acts as a 'flush' keeping our insides clean, healthy and always on the move. This can help us maintain a healthy weight while lowering the risk of diabetes and heart disease. There's plenty of fibre-rich foods to choose from on waitrose.ae and here's five to get you going.
Cereals
Start your day the healthy way with a bowl of high-fibre cereal. The rule of thumb here is to go for anything with fibre or bran in the name, but just keep an eye on the sugar content if you're counting calories. Our top choice would be Kellogg's All-Bran, with its 27g of fibre per 100 grams – that's around 11 grams per bowl.
Whole grains
Swapping your highly processed white bread for whole grain is an easy fibre fix. The average white loaf will be high in carbs and low in fibre (around 2g per 100 grams). But, opt for high bran bread and you'll be getting 8g of fibre per 100 grams. Dark rye crispbreads are even better for your insides, with 14g per 100 grams.
Fruit
Nutritious and tasty, fruits are a great way of upping your fibre intake. The secret here is to eat as much of the fruit as possible, as fibre can be found in the peel and pith (orange pith is particularly fibre-rich). For a quick fibre boost, go for raspberries (6g per 100 grams), banans (4g per 100 grams) and blackberries (3g per 100 grams).
Legumes
Although lentils have been a fibre staple for decades, it's the bean that's the real fibre powerhouse. Broad beans, kidney beans, cannellini and even baked beans provide decent amounts of fibre while being both filling and nutritious.
Essential Waitrose baby broad beans
Nuts and seeds
Almonds, pistachios and pine nuts will help keep you regular and they can easily be added to breakfasts or enjoyed as a snack. However, for the ultimate fibre-boost, you can't beat the simple seed. Pumpkin and flax seeds are packed with fibre, with chia seeds topping the lot with a huge 34g of dietary fibre per 100 grams.
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