Eat Fiber to Lose Weight
I feel like fiber has never gotten the attention it deserves. Fiber is truly the unsung hero when it comes to losing weight WITHOUT being hungry all the dang time! Let’s dive into the details to learn how you can eat MORE to weigh less!
What is Fiber?
According to F-Factor, “Fiber is the part of carbohydrates that cannot be digested. It is found in the tough cell walls of plants- fruits, vegetables, legumes and grains- that the body cannot break down. Fiber is not found in animal products.”
How does Fiber aid in weight loss?
According to F-Factor, “fiber adds bulk to food without adding calories, which is why high-fiber foods are great for dieting. It also swells in the stomach, slows digestion, and boosts metabolism, and all this combined to make losing weight healthier and easier. What really gives fiber its miracle status is the way it soaks up and removes fat and calories in the stomach before your body can absorb them. Incredibly, the fiber found in delicious, nutritious, filling carbs does what no other food can – it actually makes fat and calories disappear.”
How exactly does fiber prevent hunger pangs? According to WebMD, fiber fills your stomach, stimulating receptors that tell your brain that it’s time to stop eating.
How to add more fiber to your diet
Dietary fiber comes in two forms- soluble and insoluble. Soluble fiber expands like a sponge in the stomach and makes you feel full. Some good sources of soluble fiber include: oatmeal, oat cereal, oranges, strawberries, apples, beans, nuts, lentils, cucumbers, celery and carrots.
Insoluble fiber is the structural part of plants. According to F-Factor, “insoluble fiber works like nature’s broom, helping speed the passage of material through the digestive tract, burning calories in the process.” Good sources of insoluble fiber include: brown rice, whole wheat, whole grains, zucchini, cabbage, tomatoes, green beans, corn and barley.
You can start incorporating more fiber in your diet by tracking the amount of fiber you eat. Another great resource is the book, F-Factor by Tanya Zuckerbrot. This was the first resource that taught me about the importance of fiber in our daily diet- and how to look and feel my best without ever being hungry!
Tanya Zuckerbrot is an internationally-known dietitian and the creator of the F-Factor Diet, the only dietitian-created program for weight-loss and optimal health that is based on scientifically proven fiber-rich nutrition.
Need more proof?
If I haven’t convinced you already that you need to add more fiber to your diet- fiber can also help extend your life! A study by the National Institutes of Health followed nearly 400,000 people over a ten-year period, and found that those who ate a fiber-rich diet lived the longest.
Fiber also helps promote wellness by giving you more energy, clearer skin, improved sleep, a flatter stomach and a healthier gut!
How much fiber do I need?
The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics recommends that women get 25 to 35 grams of fiber in their diet daily. Men should get 38 grams. However, most adults in the U.S. only get 9 to 11 grams of fiber per day. That is less than half of the recommended amount! This is unfortunately due to the fact that Americans tend to rely on processed foods that have been stripped of fiber. The lack of fiber in our diet, leaves us hungry and more likely to overeat.
If this post made you think about your eating habits, adding more fiber to your diet can be a simple, effective change. What are your favorite sources of fiber?
