Eating foods high in dietary fiber can do so much more than keep you regular. It can lower your risk for heart disease, stroke, and diabetes, improve the health of your skin, help you lose weight, and boost your immune system and overall health.
As you age, your digestion becomes less efficient, so it’s important to include enough fiber in your diet. Women over 50 should aim to eat at least 21 grams of fiber per day, men over 50 at least 30 grams a day. Unfortunately, most of us aren’t getting even half those amounts.
In general, the more natural and unprocessed the food, the higher it is in fiber.
- Good sources of fiber include whole grains, wheat cereals, barley, oatmeal, beans, nuts, vegetables such as carrots, celery, and tomatoes, and fruits such as apples, berries, citrus fruits, and pears—further reason to add more fruit and vegetables to your diet.
- An easy way to add more fiber to your diet is to start your day with a high-fiber, whole grain cereal. Simply switching your breakfast cereal from Corn Flakes to Bran Flakes can add about 6 extra grams of fiber to your diet. If you’re not a fan of high-fiber cereals, try adding a couple of tablespoons of unprocessed wheat bran and fresh or dried fruit to your favorite cereal.
- Eat whole fruits instead of drinking fruit juice. You’ll get more fiber and consume fewer calories. An 8 oz. glass of orange juice, for example, contains almost no fiber and about 110 calories, while one medium fresh orange contains about 3g of fiber and only 60 calories.
- Peeling can reduce the amount of fiber in fruit, so try to eat the peel of apples and pears.
- Liven up dull salads by adding nuts, seeds, kidney beans, peas, or black beans. You can also make tasty high-fiber additions to soups and stews by adding peas, beans, lentils, and rice.
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