Understanding Dietary Fibre
What is Dietary Fibre?
Dietary fibre is the part of plants taken as food, which passes mostly undigested into the large bowel (colon). There are two major types of fibre, soluble and insoluble. Some fibres are insoluble and support the plant structure. The other fibres are soluble, such as vegetable gums. Animal foods such as meat or eggs have no fibre.
The definition of fibre now includes some components of what is called resistant starch (i.e. starch resistant to enzymes produced by humans), non-starch polysaccharides such as cellulose and gums, and lignin. These types of fibre are found in a variety of foods and have a range of different health benefits.
Soluble Fibre
Soluble fibre can help lower LDL (bad) cholesterol while maintaining the HDL (good) cholesterol. Soluble fibre is mostly used in the first part of the large bowel. It is found in fruits, vegetables and some cereals (e.g. oats) and especially in legumes (dried peas, beans and lentils).
Insoluble Fibre
Insoluble fibre is more resistant to digestion and is still present in the lower part of the large bowel where it can be fermented by bacteria and produce more special fatty acids (e.g. butyric acid). This type of fibre is found mainly in whole grain cereal foods, especially wheat. Insoluble fibre has an important role in preventing constipation by producing softer, bulkier stools.
Both soluble and insoluble fibres are needed for good health.
Foods high in fibre tend to be low in fat and fit well into weight reduction, low fat and diabetic diets.
| Food | Approximate Fibre (g) | ||||||||||
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | |||
| Bread, wholemeal | 1 slice | 2.0 | |||||||||
| Bread, mixed grain | 1 slice | 1.0 | |||||||||
| Bread, white | 1 slice | 1.0 | |||||||||
| Brown rice, boiled | 1/2 cup | 2.0 | |||||||||
| White rice, boiled | 1/2 cup | 1.0 | |||||||||
| Unprocessed Bran | 2 tabsp | 4.0 | |||||||||
| Wh/meal Pasta, ckd. | 1/2 cup | 4.0 | |||||||||
| Pasta, white boiled | 1/2 cup | 1.0 | |||||||||
| Uncle Toby’s Bran Plus | 1/2 cup (30 g) | 12.1 | |||||||||
| All Bran | 1/2 cup 8.6g | 8.1 | |||||||||
| Bran Flakes | 1/2 cup | 4.0 | |||||||||
| Weet-Bix Hi Bran | 2 biscuits | 7.0 | |||||||||
| Weet-Bix, Vita-Brits | 2 biscuits | 3.0 | |||||||||
| Porridge, cooked | 1/2 cup | 2.0 | |||||||||
| Potato, boiled with skin | 1 | 3.0 | |||||||||
| Peas | 1/3 cup | 3.0 | |||||||||
| Potato, boiled & peeled | 1 | 2.0 | |||||||||
| Carrots, boiled | 1/3 cup | 2.0 | |||||||||
| Corn | 1/3 cup | 2.0 | |||||||||
| Mashed potato | 1/2 cup | 1.0 | |||||||||
| Beans, green, boilde | 1/3 cup | 1.0 | |||||||||
| 7.0 | |||||||||||
| Baked Beans | 1/2 cup | 7.0 | |||||||||
| Lentils, boiled | 1/3 cup | 3.0 | |||||||||
| Fruit with skin (eg apple) | 1 medium | 3.0 | |||||||||
| Banana | 1 medium | 3.0 | |||||||||
| Sultanas | 1/3 cup | 3.0 | |||||||||
| Prunes | 3 | 2.0; | |||||||||
| Orange | 1 medium | 2.0 | |||||||||
| Juice, orange | 200 ml | 1.0 | |||||||||
| Nuts, mixed | 30 g | 2.0 | |||||||||
Tips to Increase Your Fibre Score
How Much Per Day
| Use wholegrain bread and cereals | 7 serves |
| Fruit (not juice) | 2 serves |
| Vegetables | 5 serves |
| (eat skins where possible ) |
Try:
Dried peas, beans and lentils) 1/2 cup cooked
add to soups and casseroles
or eat bean salad or baked beans
Try nuts seeds and dried fruit as a snack
Your head coach,
Alice Round