Talk of dietary fiber is increasing and rightfully so. In the last few years, dietary fiber has been consistently extolled and much encouragement has been given in its inclusion in our daily diet.

If you read health and diet articles online, it won’t be long until you come across one that talks about how good high fiber food is. It goes by many names, the other popular one being roughage, and is a staple of those who undertake more physically activity as means of making their living. They trust foods like oatmeal porridge and brown rice because they are aware of its role in keeping them healthy.

What is Dietary Fiber?

Dietary fiber is essentially the food that you eat that is not processed by the enzymes in the stomach. The actual definition is a little more complicated than the one we have provided above but it sufficient to know that fibers are these foods which pass through the body. More importantly, dietary fiber can be of two types: soluble dietary fiber and insoluble dietary fiber.

Soluble fiber can, as the name suggests, dissolve in water. Insoluble fiber is that which cannot dissolve in water and passes through the entire digestive system. They both have their purposes and are needed for an all-round diet.

Fiber Foods

We’ll start with some soluble dietary food. This includes oatmeal, fruits like the apple and blueberry, and nuts are rich sources of soluble dietary fiber. Both oatmeal and fruits lend themselves to being solid breakfast foods. The reason why they should seriously considered as breakfast foods is because they give the body a great deal of energy, and cover many of the daily nutritional requirements.

Insoluble fiber foods include whole wheat bread, brown rice and the skins of some fruits. Rice is a staple in India. Instead of using white rice for your meals, consider using the much healthier option of brown rice. These insoluble foods also help in keeping weight gain in check. They are satiating foods - these foods take time to pass through the body. This leaves you feeling full, making it less likely you’ll go for a snack.

All high-fiber foods reduce the chances of heart diseases, strokes and keep blood sugar levels in check. This is especially useful for diabetics. If there’s a food that combats diabetes, it is a food like oatmeal.

Recipes

1. Banana Oatmeal

A delicious and healthy breakfast recipe, the banana oatmeal is a real choice! Simply boil some oats in a container with some milk. As it begins to boil, add some mashed bananas, a little sugar and salt, and let it come to a boil. Turn the heat off and your banana oatmeal is ready!

2. Brown Rice and Rajma

We hardly need to describe this ubiquitous recipe. All that differs from this combination is that you use the much healthier option of brown rice. The taste may be different from the comfort food you are so used to, but you will get used to quickly and your body will be much more grateful for it.

3. Fruit Salads

Take your favourite fruits, high fiber sources of which are apples, blueberries and the skins of most fruits, then chop them up and put them into a bowl. Your healthy evening snack is ready.

There’s no avoiding it: you’ve got to include some source of dietary fiber in your food for a well-balanced diet. They offer a vast number of benefits that can not be found in any other single source of food. You’ve read the benefits, you should be able to sense the importance of the foods.

Try to include some of these dishes somewhere in your diet. The recipes mentioned above all lend themselves to being one of meals of the three meals of the day. If your stomach can’t quite process a cup of oatmeal a day in the morning, until you can acclimatize it to the extra fiber, compensate by having an additional helping of fiber somewhere else during the day.