By Claire Georgiou, Reboot Naturopath, B.HSc ND
Fiber is important and essential to a healthy diet, yet fiber consumption is at an all-time low with only about 3 percent of Americans get enough fiber in their diet.
Also known as roughage or bulk, fiber includes the parts of plant foods that your body cannot digest or absorb.
Here at Reboot, we love to encourage people to consume more fruits and vegetables and discuss the benefits of juice for increased health, vitality, energy, anti-aging and weight control.
Lack of fiber in the diet can contribute to constipation, an increased risk in heart disease, colon cancer, diabetes and obesity. The average American consumes 10 to 15 gram of fiber per day while the ideal consumption of fibre is more like 25 to 35 grams daily.
People often mistakenly believe that juices do not contain any fiber, but they readily contain soluble fiber and some insoluble fiber (this is mostly removed).
Soluble fiber readily dissolves in water hence why it’s still present in your fresh juices and some juices can contain up to 5 to 10 gram of soluble fiber per glass depending on the produce in the juice recipe.
Soluble fiber is important for:
While insoluble fiber helps promote regularity and a healthy digestive system.
Fruits and vegetables that are naturally high in soluble fiber:
Other foods that are high in soluble fiber are oatmeal, amaranth, barley, legumes particularly spilt peas, black beans, lima beans, lentils, kidney beans, peanuts, almonds, Brazil nuts, flaxseed, chia, sesame and pumpkin seeds.
If you want to add extra fiber to your juices due to constipation or as an add-on you can include flaxseed meal, chia seeds or even psyllium husks. You can add these supplements either to your juice or into your water in-between your juices.
Juice Recipes to enjoy that are higher in soluble fiber: