When you see high fiber foods around you, the first thought in your mind would be what fiber actually is?

Firstly, let me tell you about fiber. Fiber, sometimes called roughage, is the portion of plants which is indigestible by humans. It majorly consists of two components — soluble fiber that is readily fermented in the colon into gases and byproducts, and insoluble fibers which are inert, absorbs water from digestive system and eases defecation.  It acts by changing the nature of the contents in the alimentary tract, and by changing the absorption process of other nutrients and chemicals.

High fiber foods are low in calories, fats or minerals and the human body is not able to break the fiber. So it gets drained from the body without getting digested. Most importantly high fiber foods act as natural appetite suppressants i.e. it swells in your stomach and make you feel full. When a person feels full he is likely to eat less food or snacks. In this fashion it helps the people who are planning or trying to reduce their weight.

In addition to the appetite suppression properties, high fiber foods also have other health benefits. It helps in reduction of Bowel problems like pulses and cancer of the bowel and colon. It also helps to cut down the blood cholesterol levels and make the sugar levels stable.

By looking at the above mentioned advantages, high fiber foods become one of the most important and a must include in our daily diet. Its inclusion in your daily diet is independent of your age, your health or any thing because eating high fiber foods help your digestive system to work properly that makes you healthy. Whether you obtain the fiber from high fiber foods list (mentioned below) or from any other source (supplements) the daily intake of fiber should be 25-30 grams for an adult.

Now, we know that high fiber foods are a must in our daily diet but still people exclude it from their daily diet. A simple answer to it is that most of the people don’t like its taste. They usually get fed up by eating those grain and stuff. But many of them do not know that most fruits also contain high amount fiber example avocadoes, papaya, apricots, cantaloupe, strawberries, kiwi and grapefruit.

It is advised that high fiber food should be taken in raw form only because fibers act most effectively in raw form. After cooking they break down and the effectiveness also decreases.

High fiber foods list

Raw foods

• Beans (all types)

• Berries (blackberries, raspberries)

• Bread (whole wheat, seven-grain)

• Broccoli

• Peas (black-eyed peas, green peas)

• Potatoes

• Sweet Corn

• Carrots

• Fruit (medium apple, medium pear)

• Greens (beet greens, collards, kale, spinach, turnip greens)

• Lentils

Cooked foods

1. Cooked split peas

2. Cooked lentils.

3. Cooked pearled barley

4. Cooked black beans

5. Cooked peas