By Shane Landon, Accredited Practising Dietitian
Fibre is something most people take for granted and know little about. Indeed, a recent Newspoll survey commissioned by Sanitarium Health & Wellbeing showed that while almost all Australians correctly associate fibre with ‘keeping you regular’, only just over half linked it with the role it plays in helping to prevent cancer and diabetes and around a third were unaware of its connection to cardiovascular disease prevention.
Along with lack of awareness around the health benefits, the survey also revealed that one fifth of us don’t think we’re getting enough fibre.
With all of this in mind, it’s clear that we need to be focusing more on this powerful nutrient and the important role it plays in terms of our health and vitality. And that’s where my latest report comes into play.
To highlight the amazing disease-fighting properties of fibre, I developed the Focus on Fibre report which shows that a fibre-rich diet can help:
• improve immunity
• fight inflammation
• combat obesity
• prevent diabetes
• lower heart disease
• guard against colorectal cancer; and
• boost digestive health
Exciting research from Europe also shows that fibre has direct links with the immune system with a recent animal study identifying fibre as having a protective role against asthma. This is ground breaking and it just goes to show that the while many of the benefits of fibre are well documented there could be a whole raft of other benefits yet to be uncovered.
Getting enough fibre in the diet isn’t actually too hard but to feel the benefits, you need to ensure you’re consuming the three main types of fibre – soluble, insoluble and resistant starch.
Soluble fibre is found in things like oats, barley, rye, grain foods, fruits vegetables nuts and seeds as well as legumes like baked beans, lentils and red kidney beans.
Wholegrains including brown rice, wholemeal bread as well as wholegrain cereals and nuts are fantastic sources of insoluble fibre. These are the “bulking fibres” that are so important for keeping things moving.
Resistant starch can be found in foods such as grains including millet, firm bananas, lentils, soy, pasta and cold cooked potatoes. It resists digestion in the small intestine to reach the bowel where it produces a range of beneficial changes in the colon.
To find out more info on the benefits of fibre and how to boost your intake, head to the Focus on Fibre report here and be sure to join the national conversation on Twitter, #focusonfibre #fibrefacts.
About Shane Landon
Shane is one of Australia’s leading professional nutritionists with over 15 years consulting experience. He is a member of the Dietitians Association of Australia and is an Accredited Practising Dietitian and Accredited Nutritionist. Professionally, Shane has a long-standing academic interest in dietary fibre, resistant starch and the benefits of plant based eating and is a regular speaker at health professional conferences. Shane holds a Bachelor of Science Degree, Post Graduate Diploma in Nutrition and Dietetics and a Master of Business Administration Degree from Macquarie University.