Here's the poop on fiber

Fiber is your friend. And not just because it helps to keep you “regular”, although that’s certainly a nice side effect. The real benefit is that fiber may be one of the keys to preventing diabetes, heart disease, and cancer. Oh, and weight gain.

Fiber, found in fruits, vegetables, legumes and whole grains, is the part of plant foods that humans can’t digest. There are two types of fiber:

Insoluble fiber is the chewy part of a plant that does not dissolve in water. It pretty much passes through your system intact, soaking up water like a big old sponge. This is the type of fiber that prevents constipation and speeds up the rate at which food travels through your system.

Insoluble fiber is found in whole wheat breads, wheat bran, rye, most other whole grains (including brown rice, bulgur wheat, oatmeal, barley and quinoa), cabbage, beets, carrots, Brussels sprouts, turnips, cauliflower and in the skins of fruits and vegetables. Also note that while the whole fruit is full of fiber, there is no fiber in fruit juice.

Soluble fiber is found inside plant walls and dissolves in water to form a sticky, gel-like substance that binds to dietary cholesterol as it passes through your system, helping your body to eliminate it. And eliminating all that cholesterol may help to prevent stroke, heart disease, and some gastrointestinal problems.

Soluble fiber is found in oats (which have the highest proportion of soluble fiber of any grain), oat bran, beans, peas, rice bran, citrus fruits and strawberries.

So how much fiber do you need? Current recommendations are 25 to 35 grams of dietary fiber per day. Most people will probably get about half of that.

Increasing your fiber intake doesn’t have to be hard. Switching to 100 percent whole grains will help, as will adding a few more servings of raw fruits and vegetables. And eat more beans! They are LOADED with soluble fiber and also include lots of plant protein. Throw them into your soups and stews or on top of your salads. Garbanzo beans are especially delicious on a salad.

Simple changes to add 15 grams of fiber to your day: Have a high fiber cereal, like Raisin Brain or Fiber One instead of corn flakes or Cheerios. Make your sandwich with a whole grain bread, pita or tortilla instead of white bread. Eat ½ cup of baked or refried beans instead of a pasta salad.

One final tip: If you’re not used to a high-fiber diet, make sure you drink a lot of water. Failing to do so can make all that lovely fiber sit in your stomach like a brick – quite the opposite effect of what we’re looking for. Trust me on this.