Benefits of fiber in your diet and where to get it from

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If you just love baked beans on toast, here is a good excuse to eat them as often as you like, especially if the toast is whole-wheat: fiber.

Fiber is the magic ingredient which helps maintains your digestive system in perfect shape. Healthy digestion contributes to lower weight and increased health, it also means less risk of getting many of our modern diseases such as bowel cancer, diverticular disease and even diabetes.

Fiber is indigestible and does not contain nutriens as such. But fiber is hightly recommended for its ability to move through the digestive tract faster preventing foods from putrefying in the digestive tract which then contributes to many modern diseases.
This means - the food gets digested sooner, and the indigestible bits, including the fiber, are moved out faster.

In addition, fiber is known to absorb water to become lighter, bulkier and easier to move along. This is why it helps prevent constipation. Also, when it absorbs water in the stomach, it gives that feeling of feeling full and therefore lessening the amount of food, which is consumed.

The recommended daily fiber intake is about 35 grams a day. In reality, a normal western diet usually supplies only 12 grams or less. Foods that look fibrous, like celery and lettuce, are not the answer. Fiber comes in some surprising forms.

So, which foods are fiber-rich?

A/ a breakfast or supper of baked beans on toast will give you nearly 10 grams of fiber by itself. Dried beans, peas, lentils and garbanzos are all excellent sources of fiber.

B/ whole-wheat bread has more fiber than white: nearly 3 grams per slice compared with 0.6 gram for white.

Which means that half a cup of baked beans on a slice of whole-wheat toast will supply one third of the fiber needed in a day!

If you don't like baked beans, there are many other foods to choose from:
- Half a cup of All-Bran will contains about 10 grams of fiber.
- One cup of cooked oatmeal contains about 4.
- An apple contains about 4 grams.
- A cup of dried prunes (soked in water) has over 11 grams.
- Just three fresh carrots a day will give you 6 grams of fiber.
- Cabbage and green vegetable salad is also a rich source of fiber.

But keep in mind that it isn't advisable to increase the fiber in your diet in one go. This could make you feel very uncomfortable. It is best to add fiber into your meals gradually, to give your body time to adjust to this new, healthier way of eating.

And don't forget to drink plenty of water throughout the day, so that the fiber you eat can swell to be as light as possible. 
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If you are concerned about your health, keep away from processed food

Processed foods are to blame for the sharp rise in obesity levels and chronic disease around the globe, according to the World Health Organization. Such foods are often high in saturated fats, sugar and salt. Eating more fruit and vegetables and exercising more is the best way to protect against chronic disease. In addition to eating a healthy balanced diet you are best limiting your intake of salt, sugar and saturated fats.

According to a report published recently on the subject, the key recommendations for a healthy diet are:

- carbohydrates should account for between 55% and 75% of diet
- free sugars should remain beneath 10%
- protein should make up between 10% and 15%
- fat should be limited to between 15% and 30% and saturated fat should be less than 10% of this total
- salt should be restricted to less than five grams a day
- intake of fruit and vegetables should be in the region of 400 grams a day.
- physical activity is an important part of staying healthy.

So if you like your burgers, you may wish to think again.
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Cabbage with Smoked Bacon

The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest
Ingredients:

1 savoy cabbage
salt and freshly ground white pepper
150g smoked streaky bacon, cut into fine strips
1 tbsp unsalted butter
2 tsp caraway seeds, crushed


How to prepare:

Cut the stem off the cabbage, and remove the coarse outer leaves. Halve the cabbage, cut out the cores and chop each half finely into 3mm/1/8in thick slices. Wash in lots of water, drain well and reserve.

Bring 2 litres of water to a full boil with 30g of salt,boil the shredded cabbage for 5 minutes. Refresh in cold water, drain and reserve.

In a large pan, sweat the bacon in the butter for 2 minutes. Add the cabbage and crushed caraway seeds, and stir together. Cover and cook for a further 5 minutes. Season to taste and serve.
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Turkey Stuffing - Sage Sausage Stuffing

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Ingredients for a 4.5kg turkey:

1 large onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
450g good quality sausage meat
1 tbsp chopped parsley
2 tbsp chopped sage
25g fresh white breadcrumbs
salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 egg

How to prepare:

Mix all the ingredients together. Either use for stuffing a turkey, roll into balls or cook in a greased oven-proof dish until golden brown.
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'Dressed' Roast Potatoes

Ingredients:

1.25kg floury potatoes, such as Desirée, Maris Piper and King Edward
6 tbsp olive oil
2 garlic cloves
1 tbsp ground cumin
1 tbsp paprika
pinch of chilli powder
pinch of dried thyme
1 tsp red wine vinegar

How to prepare:

Preheat oven to 200C. Cut the potatoes into small chunks (no need to peel). Spread out in a roasting tin and drizzle over 2 tbsp olive oil, season with salt and pepper to taste and mix well. Bake for 40-50 minutes until the potatoes are crisp and brown.

To make the dressing: crush the garlic in a pestle and mortar or coffee mill, then blend in the cumin, paprika, chilli and thyme to make a paste. Gradualy work in the remaining olive oil. Stir in the vinegar, taste and add salt if necessary.

When the potatoes are cooked, spoon them on to serving plates and drizzle over the sauce sauce.
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Cinnamon Cookies

The Suburbs
Ingredients for about 80 cookies:

3 egg whites
8 oz. powdered sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
4 drops almond extract
1 teaspoon cinnamon
14 oz. ground almonds

How to make:

Whip egg whites to a peak. Sift powdered sugar and slowly add to egg whites. Set aside 3 tablespoons of egg whites to decorate cookies. Add vanilla, almond extract, cinnamon and ground almonds. Put dough into a plastic bag and roll out to about 1/4 inch. Refrigerate bag for about 15 minutes. Cut bag open. Cut out cookies with a 2 inch star shaped cookie cutter and transfer onto baking pan lined with parchment paper. Brush cookies with egg whites
Bake at 250 F for approximately 15 minutes. Reduce temperature to 210 F and bake for another 30 minutes.

The brushed egg whites should remain white. (approximately 40 calories per cookie). You can use ground hazelnuts instead of ground almonds.
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