Nine Diet Fiber Facts Plus Low Fat High Fiber Cappuccino Recipe…

I’m pretty sure that you’ve noticed the small heart on cereal boxes, loaves of bread, or the wrappers for fruit and vegetables, washed, cut, and lunch box ready. Although, Valentine’s Day is approaching, we all know that this heart is not a symbol for love but rather suggests a heart healthy fiber rich product.

Surprisingly, we often still ignore the importance of fiber in our diet. White bread or pasta just seems to fit better to the palate or recipe. It’s often more sweet and convenient to opt for processed canned fruit and vegetables instead of the fresh and crunchy kind.

So let’s look at the little heart again and recap the merits of a diet rich in fiber.

Nine Diet Fiber Facts:

• 1. Fiber fights diseases. A diet high in fiber can help prevent colon cancer and heart disease. High fiber helps the body to eliminate cholesterol by binding it in the digestive tract. Dietary fiber is used to stop constipation.
• 2. Fiber can actually help with overeating. All high fiber foods will take longer to chew and digest, making you feel satisfied longer. Add an extra portion of fruit/ or vegetables to your meal plan.
• 3. Most popular foods don’t have enough fiber. If you like the more popular foods, you probably need to increase your intake of fiber. Use a fiber supplement such as Benefiber – see recipe.
• 4. Grains offer the most fiber. Dietary fiber is actually plant matter that we cannot digest. The best sources are whole grains and concentrated grain products.
• 5. Kids need fiber as well. Children that are older than 2 years of age should consume fiber daily. Kids are most receptive to fiber found in fruits, vegetables, and even fortified breakfast cereals.
• 6. More fiber needs more water. In order to keep fiber moving through your digestive tract, you’ll need to consume a lot of water. With your diet of fiber, you’ll need eight or more glasses of water
  every day.
• 7. Fiber cannot be cooked out. When you cook your fruits and vegetables, don’t worry about cooking the fiber out, as it stays. The fiber found in fruits and vegetables aren’t just in the skin or
  in the peel.
• 8. You can get too much of a good thing. If you eat more than 50 grams of fiber in a day, you can get diarrhea and bloating, which can interfere with your body’s absorption of other key minerals.
• 9. Getting the right amount of fiber in your diet doesn’t have to be hard. All you have to do is eat the right foods and you’ll be well on your way to a fiber rich lifestyle.

For the coffee lover, here is a high fiber recipe from the Benefiber Website

Low-Fat Fiber-Rich Cappuccino

• ½ cup instant coffee
• ¼ cup sugar
• 1 cup non-fat dry milk solids
• 12 cups of Hot Water
• ½ cup of Benefiber®* Powder
• Low-Fat Whipped Topping, optional
• Chocolate Sprinkles, optional

How to do it:

Stir dry ingredients together. Process in a blender until powdered. Use 2 Tbsp. of mixture for each cup of hot water. Top with cool whip and top with chocolate sprinkles if desired.

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