It seems that the two words "weight loss" and "high-fiber diet" will come hand in hand. Whenever you will consult a dietician to meet your weight loss goals, the expert will recommend you a diet which will be high in fruits, veggies and salads! And all these foods have a common ingredient - dietary fiber! It is the presence of high amount of dietary fiber which has made these foods "hot" choices for a weight-watcher. But how can fiber contribute towards your weight loss goals or more specifically to your overall well-being? Let's explore the mystery.
Why Fiber is so Beneficial for Your Health?
A high-fiber diet contributes towards better health by maintaining the integrity and health of the bowel and by normalizing the bowel movement. It protects the heart by lowering the blood sugar level and the level of bad cholesterol in the blood. Intake of fiber before the meals is associated with the decrease in the volumetric food intake. A high fiber diet will allow you to feel full sooner, thereby curbing your hunger. This means that you will eat less, and this will contribute to your weight loss goals. The recommended fiber intake for adults less than 50 years of age is 25 grams for women and 40 grams for men.
How does Fiber Help in Your Weight Loss Process?
- It takes 20 minutes for the brain to realize that your stomach is full. A meal high in fiber takes longer to be chewed meaning that you will tend to eat slowly. Hence, the volume of food intake decreases and you end up eating fewer calories.
- Foods, rich in fiber, are considerably low in calories and are good sources of important micro-nutrients and antioxidants which play a role in weight loss. For example, oranges are rich in fiber, vitamin C and antioxidants and they help in weight loss. Other similar examples include apples, green leafy vegetables, cucumber, broccoli, zucchini, carrots, whole grains like oats, barley and whole wheat.
- High fiber foods take longer to get digested which means that they will help you in keeping full for longer.
- When the fiber reaches the gut, it swells up by absorbing water and forms a gel with the cholesterol in the blood and swipes it out. Meanwhile it also helps in keeping the stomach full.
- Fiber helps in the slow release of sugar in the bloodstream, thereby avoiding the sugar spikes which may make you feel hungry instantly. Hence it delays hunger.
What are the Tips to Increase the Fiber Intake?
- Avoid fruit juices and choose a whole fruit instead. It is better to have fruits with the peel whenever possible.
- Have a plateful of salads just before you intend to take your main meals. As mentioned earlier, it takes 20 minutes for your brain to realize that the stomach is full. Eating some raw veggies will take at least 10 minutes and this is how you can limit your food intake.
- Eat whole grains instead of refined ones, avoid maida (refined flour) completely. Instead opt for whole wheat flour. Most of the biscuits available in the market are made of refined flour and so, you need to be careful about your selection. Whole grain biscuits, oatmeal cookies are "tasty" ways to avail the benefits of fiber.
- Add some nuts and seeds like flax seeds, fenugreek seeds (methi dana), soaked almonds and walnuts to your meals. But make sure to keep the quantity low.
- Having vegetable broths or pureed vegetable soups before meals will also add to your fiber intake.
- Include a lot of green leafy vegetables since they are good sources of fiber.
- You can add bran to your flour to increase the fiber content and avoid sieving your flour before kneading it.
- Replace your whites with browns like the usual sandwich bread with brown bread, pasta with whole grain pasta, cornflakes with whole grain breakfast cereal and so on and so forth.
Who says that something which is good for your taste-buds may not turn out to be that good for your stomach as well? High fiber foods are delicious and you can include them in a variety of recipes! Satisfying your taste buds and your overall well-being at the same time are not big deals!
1 query I have is Men only needs 40 gms of Fiber -- how much would be the food quantity for that??
I mean - (e.g. 1 brown bread piece = x gms of fiber) .. etc ??
here is a list of fiber content (in gms) of some foods, hope this helps.
2 slices of whole wheat bread - 6 g
raw medium size apple - 4 g
1 cup cooked cabbage - 4g
2 medium size carrots - 4 g
1 cup steamed corn (no butter) - 10 g
1 cup cooked brown rice - 6 g
1 cup cooked spinach - 6 g
100 gms oats - 11g
these foods are are rich in fiber and low in calorie at the same time , so they would be useful for both purpose, that is to increase your fi er content and to lose a bit of weight too !
Its Great info for me - however I am planning to weight loss ( but my buzy schedule prevents me from that - so just planning to do something else) like have started eating full meal single time (in morning I take only some Khakhra, kurmures(Puffed rice), in break fast) will this help in loosing weight.
will eating Puffed rice help reducing weight?
well i would not recommend havoing just puffed rice for your breakfast, rather yopu can have it for any other meal .. here is a low cal menu example which mite be of use to you,
- early morning - a glass of warm water + lemon (to raise your metabolic rate)
- breakfast - a bowl of wheat flakes or any cereal + 1 cup milk + 1 fruit (avoid starchy fruits like mango, banana, chikku)
- if possible try to walk for 10 min after this , either at home itself or on your way to office, you can park your vehicle a little away from the enterance , so that you would have to walk... or for even better results , take the stairs , climbing 4 storeys will help you in inch loss
- mid morning (11am -12 pm ) try having a cup of green tea or keep roasted channa in your desk or simply oats cookies packet , and grab 1-2 piece (mid meals are crutial in weight loss)
- Lunch - try having a plate full of salad / or atleast some raw veggies before you start over , you can either take a snacky item for lunch .. as in 2 ildli and chutney or a wheat bread sandwich , or just 2 phulka ( no ghee) and veggies. or brown rice with raita ... based on the availabiliity.
- post lunch try to take some time off and walk for 10 min (slow pace) or again go for the 4 storey stair climbing.
- 4 pm typish - you can take a cup of green tea or the midmeal items mentioned earlier, or if you can avail butttermilk or coconut water ...
dinner - now you can play trics for weight loss with your dinner... go light , have salads soups and bhel minus the namkeen and mixtures / puffed rice with a little seasoning, or have a glass of milk with a lot of fruits / salads whatever suits you best, you can also have some cereals.
- bedtime - a glass of warm water + lemon
this diet will provide you nt more than 1200 - 1300 calories , and would help you in weight loss withour staying hungry ...
remember have proper breakfast and rather keep lunch and dinners light for best results.
dont forget exercise and workout in combination is always better than just diet or exercise alone !
i am not personally very fond of raw veggies, but this is what i follow, request you to please let me know if its ok.
warm lime water in the morning, then a small bowl of fruits ( quarter apple, 2 strawberries, a slice of kiwi or a few slices of orange) + a handful of oats with milk.
lunch - 1 roti(no ghee) + sabji _ 1 cucumber and half carrot, sometimes dahi / raita
dinner again is 1 roti with sabji ( no salad)
i do have 2 buscuits with green tea mid morning on SOME days, will try and make ita regular habit.
is it true that green tea also helps in losing weight ?
request you to also suggest some health fooods for people with hi uric acid.
Thanks..awaiting your revrt.
ok lets go one by one
- warm water at bed time helps in several ways... while wanting to lose weight you need to keep the metabolic rate high. but when the body is in rest mode / sleep, the metabolic rate falls considerably. warm water and lemon helps in keeping the metabolic rate up for quite some time , thus you involuntary lose more calories than usual. also it helps in cleaning the toxin out.. every night the liver produces some glucose on its own to supply the organs and cells with energy while we are not eating, so the entire carb mechanism in the nite can pile up some toxins. it also helps in regularizing your bowel in the morning.
as far as acidity is concerned, lemon is good source of vit c, which only helps in increasisg the immunity and aids in digestion, keeping stress and stomach related problems at bay, so rather it wuld help. however , during a severe episode of acidity, one should avoid it just for that time.
- your breakfast is good, nice choises of food.
- lunch and breakfast is good too. but i hope you are not feeling hungry during the day , as your intake is low. this is ok as long as you are not exercising , but in case if you are, plz increase the protein intake, as it is low, you can add a glass of skim milk in this case or egg whites too. (that is if you yourself dont have the uric acid problem abiut which you mentioned in the end )
- green tea has some what similar effect as warm water and lemon , it raises your metabolic rate and thats why you can avail all benefits mentioned above, also green tea is an excellent source of anti oxidants, which scavenges all toxin from your body and keeps stress low, as well as also has an anti ageing effect, and protects against various health problems in the long run.
healthy foods for high uric acid conditions -
- eat foods which are low in purine, so one needs to avoid red meats, sardines and herring and some other sea foods, asparagus, mushrooms and mussels which are high in purine
- high fiber diet helps in counter acting high uric acid, you can refer the above mentioned comment on the fiber content of some food for reference and also go to the same article mentioned above to get a list of high fiber food
- high antioxidant foods like tomatoes, blueberries, cherries, cranberries, squash, bell peppers , lemon, orange, amla, oranges, basically all foods with vibrant colours and rich in vit C and Vit E .
my husband has hi uric acid, which we are trying to control thru controlled diet.hence the concern .
my intake is low..i agree..but only trying to lose weight by keeping it so..i do a 30-40 minute morning walk after my warm water in the morning.
well further to your explaination of warm lemon water at bedtime..please tell me...that shd we have this water after or before brushing teeth, since we have a habit of brushing teeth before bedtime and having our water in the morning with out brushing empty stomach.
i have read that tomotoes and palak are extremely harmful if you suffer from hi uric acid. please explain since you have mentioned having tomatoes is ok.
i have low fat milk with oats in the morning, u have mentioned to include a glass of skimmed milk, when shd i do this ?
thx
- well if you dont really feel hungry and weak during the day , you can continue a smilar intake, but if you do feel so, plz try to increase 1 hulka for either of your meals.
- warm water is not necessarily take just before going to bed .. you can take before you brush , may be 30 min after your dinner.. irrespective of wht time you sleep.
- yes tomatoes and spinach are rich in uric acid .. you are right here.. but looking at the other benefits of these foods, you can let him have tomatoes in limitation (sorry i forgot to mention this part in the previous note). upto 2 tomatoes a day is good if his levels are not to haywire.. but yes if very high then its better avoided for some time, basically being vegetarian will help him in reducing the uric acid levels considerably. also whille his uric acid is very high, you shoudl avoid other protein foods like milk and curd in high quantities.
- well the amount of milk you are consuming now is not enuf, hence addition of atleast one glass of skimmed milk in the evening would be helpful to avoid health problms later in your life.
I hav heard, walking at a very fast pace n slowing down for a while after u get tired - doing this thing alternately, helps blood pump from the heart n also helps in reducing the toxins n also excess of thyroid hormone from body. Is it correct? Is brisk walking in this way sufficient for me to fight my thyroid problem n get over it? If yes, when n for how much time should i dot it? n if not is ther anything else i can do? I am on a regular course of Thyronorm medicine as prescribed by gynaec. Apart from these, i hav very high acidity n heat problems. What wat diet plan should i follow? could u suggest me anything please?
One more thing, i think u shd knw, is i am an architect, n hav been having a v hectic life since past 6 years, 1st 5 in school of architecture and now as an employee for an organization. My travelling time is 5 hours (2way) everyday n get 4-6 hours sleep everyday. I also consider, stress, irregular eating habits n less sleep r reasons for increase in my thyroid hormone.
my present diet everyday is:
Morning:
7am - 1 pill thyronorm pill with 1 glass of normal water (without brushing teeth - hav been told its gud to do that)
Breakfast:
10.30 am - 4 slice brown bread or 2 khakras(homemade of stale chapati)
Lunch:
1pm - 3 chapatis (without ghee) n 1 sabji (mostly low on oil), 2-3 bites of fruits (mostly apple n pear)
Snacks:
small half packet of Nutrilite cracker biscuits or sukha bhel(not regularly)
Dinner:
Very lil rice n dal with sabji or papad (roasted)
1 glass cold milk
1 mango alternate days (only in may)
U r d 1st dietician im sharing wid my problems, after reading ur reviews out here.
Please help me if possible. I really want to get down my weight v badly, since my active nature in doing work is getting badly affected due to tiredness n lethargy.
thanx for considering me of help. well as you mentioned that you have a hypothyroidism problem. well one picture i got from your msg is that you are not really clear of the problem. at one place you have mentioned that you want to get rid of the excess thyroid hormone from the body with the walking technique you mentioned. well to be more precise, actually your thyroid levels (T3 AND T4) are below the normal range. in such a case the TSH levels rise to stimulate the thyroid to make more of T3 and T4. i knw im getting too much in scientific details, but dear you need to understand your problem to get a rite solution to it.
now your answers, well hormonal imbalance and specially hypothyroidism is a condition where in the body's metabolic rate slows down considerably and causes weight gain. the only way to manage this situation is to be very very regular with your medications. while you do that your thyroid levels would come near normal and thus you will be able to avoid any further weight gain.
as far as weight loss is concerned the major thing is that you should be really patient. losing weight with hormonal imbalance is a slow an steady .. you cant expect to lose like 5 kgs in a month just likek some frnd of yours. here are some tips that you should follow for weight loss in hypothyroidism. ive marked my suggestions in caps
Morning:
7am - 1 pill thyronorm pill with 1 glass of normal water (without brushing teeth - hav been told its gud to do that) (YES IT IS GOOD TO TAKE IT FIRST THING IN THE MORNING)
Breakfast:
10.30 am - 4 slice brown bread or 2 khakras(homemade of stale chapati), (YOU NEED TO INCLUDE 1 CUP MILK AND A FRUIT, YOU CAN ALSO TAKE WHEAT FLAKES /CEREALS/OATS WITH MILK AND A FRUIT.)
Lunch:
1pm - 3 chapatis (without ghee) n 1 sabji (mostly low on oil), 2-3 bites of fruits (mostly apple n pear) (CAN YOU GET IT DOWN TO 2 CHAPATIS? AND ALSO ADD BRAN TO YOUR WHEAT FLOUR, AND YOU SHOULD ALSO AVOID VEGGIES LIKE POTATO AND YAM, AND CABBAGE, TURNIPS, SPINACH, BROCOLLI AND SOYABEAN AS THEY CAN FURTHER DISRUPT YOUR THYROID HORMONE LEVELS )
Snacks:
small half packet of Nutrilite cracker biscuits or sukha bhel(not regularly)(A SNACK IS REALLY IMPORTANT TO KEEP YOU GOING, SO YOU CAN ALSO HAVE A FRUIT, OATS COOKIES , MULTIGRAIN BISC, ROASTED CHANNA)
Dinner:UR THY
Very lil rice n dal with sabji or papad (roasted) (AVOID THE PAPAD, AND DOUBLE HEAT THE RICE OR USE BROWN RICE)
1 glass cold milk
1 mango alternate days (only in may) (ONLY SEASONAL, SO FINE)
now your diet is very nominal and has limited calories so no worries, but you need to exercise. your scedule is really full .. but you need to find some space for sure or you would not be able to acheieve your weight goal.
- what you have mentioned abt walking is true, walking fast and then slowing doem for some time helps in weight loss. in total you need to work out for around 45 min minimum. also a small walk after each meal will further help in raising the metabolic rate and getting some weight loss.
- for healthy thyroid function, it is more effective to do interval training in which you do repetetive bursts of intense activity with rest in between, than it is to do long periods of low-intensity exercise, but any form of exercise is helpful.
And make sure that rest period shoud include very light exercises and not complete rest.
thyroid problem is some thing like diabetes, hard to remove from the core, but it can be only managed well with good diet, and regular medication and a healthy lifestyle.
the acidity and stress you mentioned, may be a result of inadequate sleep and irreguular timings of food and too much travelling, it comes as a lifestyle hazards.
READ YOUR COLUMNS VERY CAREFULLY AND REALLY APPRECIATE YOUR ADVISES. AM 44YEARS, 5'8.5"HEIGHT AND WAS ON STEROIDS FOR LAST YEAR DUE TO KIDNEY INFECTION. NOW ALL MEDICINES ARE STOPPED SINCE 4MONTHS. SINCE I PUT ON WEIGHT DUE TO MEDICINE, SO REDUCING THESE DAYS. EARLIER MY WEIGHT WAS 75KGS BUT WITH MEDICATION IT ROSE TO 95KGS. MY DAILY INTAKE IS AS FOLLOWS AND I HAVE REDUCED TO 88.5KGS IN 2MONTHS. KINDLY ADVISE IF I NEED TO CHANGE MY ROUTINE OR IF ITS OK.
-GO TO BED BY 10PM AND RISE EARLY AT 3.30AM, MEDITATE FOR 1.5HOUR AND GO TO BED AGAIN BY 5AM FOR 2 HOURS.
-TAKE GLASS OF DHANIA WATER (SOAKED OVERNIGHT) WITH TEASPOON OF MIXTURE-FEENUGREEK,CUMINS AND AJWAIN.
-ONE SMALL STUFFED CHAPATI (WITHOUT GHEE)WITH CURD IN BREAKFAST AT ABOUT 9AM.
-AROUND 10.30-11.00 AM SMALL CUP OF TEA WITH LESS SUGAR
-AROUND 12.15PM, GLASS OF SALTED LASSI
-TAKE WATER IN BETWEEN WHENEVER FEEL THIRSTY OR HUNGRY
-IN LUNCH AROUND 2PM, TAKE 3 SMALL CHAPATI WITH 2 VEG+CURD
-AROUND 4PM CUP OF TEA.
-WALK FOR 3KMS IN EVENING
-IN DINNER AGAIN EITHER HAVE GLASS OF COLD COFFEE OR MILK OR ONE SMALL STUFFED CHAPATI WITHOUT GHEE +CURD.
FEEL LIGHT WHOLE DAY BUT STILL WEIGHT LOSS IS SLOW ESPECIALLY AFTER 90KGS. KINDLY ADVISE.
thanks a lot again...
best regards... kirti
its ok dear ... basically these ready made juices have preservatives and sugars in them ... so while choosing, read he label and see which one of it is without any added sugar... i mean you can choose between different brands .. just read the label .... and dont worry abt eatin out, as long as you choose healthy there is really nothing wrong .. for instance you can choose on a subway sandwich, or egg white omlete, or salads and fruit bowls , juices instead of frizzy drinks .. and steamed idli with chutney, also dhokla is fine instead of fried samosa and kachori .. so just choose wisely and you can eat a lot of stuff from out ...