When it comes to fighting fat and decreasing estrogen, fibre is your best friend. Low-cal, fibre-packed foods fill you up and prevent overeating.

How Fibre Works

A few years ago, it was the f-word that no one wanted to use. Today, it’s plastered all over packages at the supermarket. (That’s fibre, people, fibre.) Last year, manufacturers introduced more than 1,500 high-fibre, whole-grain products — an increase of 121 percent since 2005. Now we have high-fibre English muffins and even whole-bean chocolate bars.

Studies peg foods rich in fibre to a reduced risk of heart disease, diabetes, and cancer — and to losing weight without feeling hungry. For instance, researchers at Harvard Medical School found that women who increased their intake of high-fibre or whole-grain foods over a 12-year period were half as likely to become obese as those who decreased their consumption.

The more fibre a food has, the better. Fibre-packed products tend to be low-cal, so you can eat a lot. Fibre makes you full, because it swells in your stomach when it absorbs liquid.

Fibre is also a heart hero: It helps to lower cholesterol and blood pressure, and it increases blood flow. Soluble fibre’s effect on cholesterol is so potent that the FDA allows companies to advertise this fact on products like oatmeal. The nutrient may also reduce levels of C-reactive protein (CRP), a marker for inflammation, which has been linked to cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and cancer. I recently attended a Holistic Nutrition conference at the Ontario Science Centre and adding more fibre as a way to live healthier and disease-free longer was a major topic of interest.

Fibre for Hormone Detoxification

Fibre offers wonderful benefits for your hormonal balance. Keeping your bowels moving regularly is critical at all times, but especially during your detox to avoid accumulation and re-absorption of toxins. Aside from improving digestion and reducing tummy bloat, fibre binds to excess toxic estrogen in the digestive tract and helps to excrete it from the body. It beneficially affects the composition of intestinal bacteria and reduces the buildup of free floating estrogen. It is definitely your fat loss and hormonal health friend! Add one or two tablespoons daily to your smoothies, salads or water. I recommend that you can supplement with a non-irritating, psyllium-free fibre powder or capsule such such as Metafibre by Metagenics or Solufibre by AOR. Locally, check out Nature’s Emporium for the best suited option for you.

Why You Need More Fibre

Most of us aren’t getting enough. The average woman consumes about 10 to 15 grams of fibre a day — about half of what’s needed to meet the basic recommendation of 25 grams. And experts say that more is even better — about 30 to 40 grams a day.

Load up your meal with fruits, veggies, beans, nuts, and whole grains instead of processed foods and you’ll reduce your risk for heart disease, diabetes, and cancer while you drop pounds.

Try this delicious recipe tonight to get you started!

Black Bean Avocado Salad

  • 1 red pepper, diced
  • 3 stalks of celery, chopped
  • 1 can black beans, rinsed
  • 1 cup corn
  • ½ cup cilantro, chopped
  • 1 avocado, diced
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 2 tbsp lemon juice
  • 1 tbsp grainy Dijon
  1. Mix oil, lemon juice, and Dijon in the bottom of a large bowl.
  2. Add pepper, celery, beans, corn, cilantro, and avocado and stir to mix.
  3. Serve at room temperature.
  4. Great made a day ahead
Posted in Nutrition, Recipes