The Importance of Fibre

Dietary fibre is found in cereals, fruits and vegetables. Fibre is made up of the indigestible parts or compounds of plants, which pass relatively unchanged through our stomach and intestines. The main role of fibre is to keep the digestive system healthy.

Other terms for dietary fibre include ‘bulk’ and ‘roughage’, which can be misleading since some forms of fibre are water soluble and aren’t bulky or rough at all.

Fibre keeps the digestive system healthy

Dietary fibre is mainly needed to keep the digestive system healthy. It also contributes to other processes, such as stabilising glucose and cholesterol levels. In countries with traditionally high fibre diets, diseases such as bowel cancer, diabetes and coronary heart disease are much less common than in the West. 

Most Australians don’t consume enough fibre. On average, most Australians consume 18-25g of fibre daily. The Heart Foundation recommends that adults should consume approximately 30g daily. Australian experts suggest that children should eat 10g of fibre a day plus an additional gram for every year of age. For instance, a 10 year old child should eat 15-20g of fibre per day. 

Disorders that can arise from a low fibre diet include:

• Constipation
• Irritable bowel syndrome
• Diverticulitis
• Heart disease
• Some cancers

Two types of fibre

There are broadly two categories of fibre and we need to eat both in our daily diets:

• Soluble fibre - includes pectins, gums and mucilage, which are found mainly in plant cells. One of its major roles is to lower blood cholesterol levels. Good sources of soluble fibre include fruits, vegetables, oat bran, barley, seed husks, flaxseed, psyllium, dried beans, lentils, peas, soymilk and soy products. Soluble fibre can also help with constipation.
• Insoluble fibre - includes cellulose, hemicelluloses and lignin, which make up the structural parts of plant cell walls. A major role of insoluble fibre is to add bulk to faeces and to prevent constipation and associated problems such as haemorrhoids. Good sources include wheat bran, corn bran, rice bran, the skins of fruits and vegetables, nuts, seeds, dried beans and wholegrain foods.Both types of fibre are beneficial to the body and most plant foods contain a mixture of both types.

Ways to increase your fibre intake

Simple suggestions for increasing your daily fibre intake include:

• Eat breakfast cereals that contain barley, wheat or oats.
• Switch to wholemeal or multigrain breads and brown rice.
• Add an extra vegetable to every evening meal.
• Snack on fruit, dried fruit, nuts or wholemeal crackers.A daily intake of more than 30g can be easily achieved if you eat wholegrain cereal products, more fruit, vegetables and legumes and, instead of low fibre cakes and biscuits, have nuts or seeds as a snack or use in meals.

(Source.)