
EATING ENOUGH FIBRE IS KEY TO OUR HEALTH
Fibre helps with digestion, Diabetes, high cholesterol levels, heart diseases and many more
Fat, carbohydrates and protein are the nutrients our body can’t live without. But there are many more nutrients every body needs to stay the healthiest possible. As so many people are struggling with digestion problems, diabetes, high cholesterol levels and heart diseases, I thought Fibre is the next topic to talk about. Because eating more Fibre can help with all of these in terms of preventing and treating.
How much Fibre is enough or can it get too much?
The recommendations for the daily Fibre intake vary between 30–40 gram. The good thing is it is very hard to eat too much Fibre. The body isn’t digesting Fibre but they get excreted in the end. In between they’re doing a great job to keep us healthy, but more on that later. When start eating more Fibre be sure to also drink more. Fibre binds water and therefore we need to drink a little extra so that’s Fibre is working the way we want it to. Most people in our industrial countries don’t even get close to 30 gram because of their diet.
What is the effect of Fibre on our body?
- Activates & balances digestions: Fibre binds water, that’s why you should drink some extra water when you start eating more fibre. It’s not getting digested but you can imagine it more like a sponge absorbing water. The growing volume in the gut, gives the body a sign to activate digestion.
- Cleanses intestine: As mentioned above, you can imagine Fibre like a sponge absorbing water and then making its way through the digestive system. By that it gets to through the whole gut and absorbing everything that shouldn’t be in there and taking it out.
- Fibre is crucial for your healthy gut bacteria, the microbiom in our gut: Fibre act as food for probiotics. In order to keep a healthy gut, you need a well balanced microbiom and part of that is keeping the good bacteria alive by feeding it with prebiotics, such as fibre.
- Balances high cholesterol levels & high blood sugar levels: here were primarily talking about water soluble fibre. It binds bile acid. The body now has to produce more bile acid. Cholesterol is part of the bile acid, which lowers the cholesterol level in the blood. Also studies show that a higher fibre intake lowers blood sugar levels after eating.
- Keeps us longer satisfied after eating: I mentioned in the beginning that fibre kind of works like a sponge. So we feel more full and that makes us less hungry for a longer period of time.

Which foods have lots of Fibre?
- Leafy greens
- Fruits (also dried fruits)
- Berries
- Nuts
- Coconut flour
- Vegetables (especially: celery, cabbage, carrots, fennel…)
- Millet, quinoa, canihua, amaranth, teff — love to keep it gluten-free (but of course also other grains, especially whole grains are rich in Fibre)
- Oil seeds: linseed/flaxseed, sesame, poppy seed, pumpkin seed etc.
- Psyllium husk: one of my favorites! You can add it to your smoothie, coconut yoghurt (or any kind of yogurt), use it for baking recipes and much more! It is really high in Fibre and eating 1–2 tablespoons a day already pushes your Fibre balance
