This is so exciting. Even being a natural "ham", sometimes I feel pretty silly taking on the role of Fiber-Girl superhero - I am almost 40, you know. But then, along come studies like this that remind me why I will gladly make a fool out of myself.
This study was just published in the February, 2010 Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
Dietary Fiber and Subsequent Changes in Body Weight and Waist Circumference in European Men and Women
Researchers tracked 89,432 healthy participants, aged 20–78 years, for six and a half years. They found total fiber (from food) to be "inversely associated" with subsequent weight and waist circumference change. In other words, people who consumed the most dietary fiber had the least weight gain and waist increase over the span of six years.
In particular, fiber from grains was found to be the most effective in preventing weight/waist gain, although fiber from fruit and vegetables also significantly prevented waist circumference increase as well. Unfortunately, fiber from legumes was not studied. (Obviously they haven't read my blog yet.)
So remember, increasing fiber in your diet now will prevent weight gain later. Let's not let aging make us fat - battle the bulge with high fiber foods: fruit, vegetables, whole grains and legumes (beans, lentils, peas, nuts and seeds).
Labels: fiber, weight gain
10 Comments:
Posts
They are giving away a free ebook called "365 tips for healthy living". I didn't expect it to be any good because it's free but it's actually brilliant so I thought i'd share it here :)
I personally am not a proponent of prenatal vitamins, although iron is a concern for most pregnant women. I took an iron supplement during pregnancy, but only half of the amount recommended (iron creates free radicals and competes with other important minerals such as calcium). Otherwise, just eat a healthy, plant-based diet and you'll get all the folic acid and other nutrients you need.