Fabulous Fiber and Weight Loss

The connection between fiber and weight loss.

Wouldn’t it be great if you could eat yourself thin?

It is possible. Research shows that those who are successful at losing weight and keeping it off consume an average of 33% more fiber-rich foods than their overweight counterparts.

Fiber and Weight Loss

How does fiber help with weight loss?

1. You feel fuller sooner

One of fiber’s fantastic qualities is it helps you feel fuller sooner.  Simply chewing fiber-rich food sends a signal to your brain causing you to begin to feel full, so you’re less likely to overeat.

2. You feel fuller longer

Fiber also helps you feel fuller longer. In the stomach and small intestine, fiber dilutes the contents and delays the emptying of food, which promotes a feeling of fullness and averts the desire to eat more.

3. Fiber helps with hormone regulation

Fiber also acts as a natural hormone regulator. It helps to control circulating levels of glucose, insulin, and other hormones that regulate appetite.

4. Fiber fights fat

Wouldn’t it be great if you could eat something that would fight fat in your body?  Fabulous fiber is a fat fighter too. In the colon, fiber hampers the absorption of fat.

Other Health Benefits of Fiber

In addition to slimming your waistline, fiber can also provide other health benefits.

1. Fiber improves gut health

Fiber provides food for beneficial gut bacteria, which improves gut health.

2. Fiber helps maintain healthy blood sugar levels.

Fiber helps regulate reduce the blood sugar response after a meal and maintain healthy blood sugar levels.

3. Fiber prevents constipation

Fiber softens the stool and helps move material through your digestive system.

4. Fiber improves cholesterol levels.

Fiber prevents some of the fat from the food we eat from being absorbed, which in turn, can lower cholesterol levels.

Do I Eat Enough Fiber?

Less than three percent of Americans eat the recommended amount of fiber.

What!?

Yes, it’s true.

With our increased dependence on commercially-prepared food (packaged food, restaurants, etc.) and our increased consumption of sugar, oil, juice, and white flour, our fiber intake has steadily decreased over the last 80 years … until almost no one is getting enough of this health-promoting nutrient.

What are the best sources of fiber?

Fiber is only found in plant foods. (No matter how tough that steak is, it doesn’t contain one bit of dietary fiber.)

You can also find supplements for fiber, but the body does not use supplements in the same way as it uses whole, natural foods. The best source of fiber is whole, natural, plant-based foods. You can find lots of delicious recipes that use these healthy, fiber-filled foods here on my website.

How to eat enough slimming fiber

If you eat plenty of fruits, vegetables, whole grains (like rice, quinoa, and oats), legumes (beans, lentils, and peas), and nuts every day, you’ll have no trouble at all getting plenty of fiber. These foods are generally very high in this helpful nutrient.

Reducing your consumption of meat, milk, cheese, eggs, butter, margarine, and oil is very helpful since these foods contain no fiber whatsoever.

Refined foods (like sugar, white flour, and white rice) also contain very little, if any, fiber and are best replaced with whole, unrefined foods.

Blah Boring Food?

But does this mean that you have to eat food that tastes like cardboard?  Absolutely not.  There are many delicious ways to get more naturally-occurring fiber in your diet!

Here’s how to get more fiber naturally:

1. For breakfast choose fresh fruit – which is high in fiber – instead of fruit juice – which is usually devoid of fiber.

2. Topping your morning cereal with fruit (instead of sugar) will up your fiber intake and sweeten your cereal.

3. Spread almond butter on your toast instead of butter or margarine.

4. Fiber-up your sandwich by adding shredded carrot, cucumber slices, sprouts, or leaf lettuce to your sandwiches.

5. Add slimming and fiber-rich beans to your favorite dishes.

For example, you can add pinto beans to taco salad. Kidney beans taste great in minestrone soup. Or try garbanzo beans in pasta salad.

Fiber – The Magic Weight Loss Ingredient

If you’d like to lose weight, but don’t want to starve yourself, add some fiber-filled foods to your meals and you’ll find weight loss so much easier.

For more delicious help with weight loss, check out my Weight Loss Program.

Good Tasting, High-Fiber Recipes

Here are a few of my favorite high-fiber recipes.

Creamy Italian Salad Dressing

Even most “fat-free”, “lite”, and/or “low-calorie” salad dressings have ingredients in them that contribute to weight gain. Here’s a healthy, clean-eating dressing that is a good source of fiber and will help shed those extra pounds.

Loaded Sweet Potato

Different preferences? Picky eater? Gluten-free? No problem. Just set out all the fixins and everyone gets to build their own delicious plate just the way they like it!

High-Fiber Applesauce

Most applesauce is very low in fiber. This high-fiber applesauce is not only high in fiber but it also tastes amazing!

Black Bean Veggie Salad

So easy to make, so tasty, and so good for you!

Flax Date Bars

This yummy “energy” bar is loaded with omega-3’s for a healthy body and a healthy mind.

Get more delicious and slimming recipes! Join my online weight loss program!

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