Nourish With Intent

Good morning. Happy Saturday, Cadre. Hope everyone's doing well. And if you're not happy, you're here with me this morning. Hopefully I can say something stupid and make you smile a little. Welcome to Nourish With Intent where we talk about. Good morning, Kelly. Good morning, Rick. Good morning. Good morning. A couple names on here I haven't seen before. So if you have not seen me before, my name is Kristin Grimes. I'm a registered dietitian based out of Denver, Colorado, and I primarily focus on really nourishing with intent, which is why I named it as such.

So I help my clients nourish intentionally, but in a way that still maintains a positive relationship with food. My background is in eating disorders and I'm actually gonna be starting a new role in GI soon. So kind of blending the two worlds. And I have. You've been here the last couple weeks, we've been talking about kind of all things GI And I have already talked about this. It was about a year ago. I looked at the date from when I wrote my notes. So I think it's about time that we talk about fiber again, because I talk about it here and there.

But I also read some newer research recently recommending 50 grams of fiber a day. And the current recommendations are 25 to 38. And that is a little bit of a jump. So I thought I would talk about it as most people, average American intake is around 10 to 15 grams. So we're going to be talking about fiber again, benefits of it, where to get it, some little tricks. First, I guess I'll start off with what is fiber? Fiber is an indigestible carbohydrate. It. Our body's inability to digest it is what makes it beneficial for us.

So the fact that we it's not a quote unquote, essential nutrient because our bodies aren't digesting it and utilizing it for some process is what makes it beneficial and helpful to our bodies. So throwing that out there. So it's an indigestible carbohydrate. When you think about the types of carbs you have, sugars, starches, and fiber. There's two types of fiber. There's soluble and insoluble. Soluble, dissolves in water. Best visual illustration of this is chia seeds, if you've ever seen that. And it forms a thick gel.

What this helps to do is kind of push things through. It can help with diarrhea because it is absorbing water and it can prevent constipation. It's helpful in lowering cholesterol, ldl cholesterol, if that's something that you are watching for yourself. In the same way that it kind of absorbs water, it can bind to some of the LDL cholesterol particles so that instead of having them circulating, we actually excrete them. It can help bind excess bile, also can help to lower blood sugar. So if you are somebody watching your glucose or A1C soluble fiber.

All plants have both soluble and insoluble, but in different amounts. So foods highest insoluble are things like oats, barley, beans are a good one. And then fruits like apples. Specifically, there's a fiber called pectin. Citrus fruits, carrots are the other big one. Insoluble fiber is think like cellulose, plant wall roughage. So my favorite illustration for that is the dreaded kale. Um, good morning. I missed a couple people. Good morning. If I didn't say hi to you already, happy you're here.

Where was I? Insoluble fiber. So think roughage. It does not dissolve in water, but by its nature it does attract water. So both in both of these situations, it's important that we're drinking a lot of water when we're increasing fiber because both of them are changing the way that water is coming into the GI tract. So insoluble will attract water to help it move through your system. It adds bulk to the stool, which makes it easier to pass and it can prevent and treat constipation. So diarrhea, we think soluble constipation, we think more insoluble.

But both do kind of help with both. What is cauliflower considered to be? Cauliflower is going to be a little bit higher on the insoluble fiber, I believe. I don't actually know exact ratios because both have both. It is higher. Cauliflower is one of the higher fiber vegetables. So anything in the cruciferous realm, kale, cauliflower, broccoli, romesco, everything in that realm is going to actually be a higher fiber vegetable. I am curious though. Let's see. It is higher on insoluble. Sometimes I google things too because I don't need to keep it all in my brain.

So all plants contain both, just in varying amounts. Fiber is only found in plant foods. We are not going to get it from any animal foods. Other benefits of fiber, reasons why we should care about it promotes regularity. Talked about that. It also helps to feed our microbiome. So there are types of fibers that are fermentable that our microbiome eats on, produces gas which is why sometimes when you up your fiber quite a bit, you'll get quite a bit gassier. There is an adjustment period. Most people do find that to get less severe as time goes on.

As you continue to keep your fiber intake higher, it helps with satiety because fiber takes longer to break down and digest. Slows gastric emptying, so food moves through your system slower. Already mentioned, it helps cholesterol, blood sugar. It could potentially lower blood pressure as well. There's some research on that. There's some interesting research about high fiber diets being associated with anti aging. That's very early research and it's very much correlated, not causation, but I thought it was interesting.

High fiber diets can help to detox excess hormones. So excess estrogen is the big one that's been studied and then it's just generally associated with a lower risk of chronic disease. Though there are also many factors at play here. I want to recognize that it's also not always possible for people to have access to a lot of these high fiber foods. So no shame in that. That's not my goal with that piece. But just to throw out, there's really five categories that are going or four main categories that are going to give you fiber.

You've got fruits, vegetables, grains. So any of your whole grains, think barley, oats, brown rice, quinoa, and then nuts and seeds or I guess it is five and beans if I didn't already say that. So one helpful tip is to think about am I getting at least one thing from every category every day and aiming for two or three categories at every meal? That's. That is one way to kind of think about how do I increase my fiber without like obsessing around tracking or having to, you know, reading labels isn't for everyone in terms of the emotional piece of it.

And if you have any history of eating disorder restriction, sometimes that can be really triggering. So aiming to get two or three categories every time you're eating of those five categories of fiber is one strategy to help boost fiber intake. I was told you eat cruciferous vegetables. They cause gas because they get rid of the bad bacteria in your intestinal tract. Is that true? In a sense, yes, sort of. So not directly. So when you eat cruciferous vegetables, your body is going, first of all they have a couple different like compounds in them that can contribute to gas.

But when it comes to the fiber piece of it, your the types of bacteria from the research that we have, the types of bacteria that are eating the fiber and then producing CO2 as a result of that process are beneficial bacteria. So when we think about, when we talk about the microbiome, we talk about beneficial bugs and then pathogenic species of bact bacteria. The ones that we see to be utilizing the fiber are the beneficial ones. So in that way you're kind of feeding the good ones and like starving out the bad bugs, the pathogenic bugs.

There's a lot more nuance to that, but just kind of generally we've seen that in some of the research. So sort of. I also wonder if maybe that's like we're talking about sulforaphane, which is another compound but that's not directly fiber related. So a little bit different. Oh, the other thing I was going to say is when our bacteria is eating this fiber, they also produce butyrate, which is a compound that feeds or is fuel for your colon cells. So it's kind of this like circular beneficial process happening.

I'm really curious if whoever told you that, like, what were they thinking about? You know, because it's not wrong. It's just kind of like combining a lot of things together. So. Good question. Some specific foods that have been studied that are helpful with bowel movements because of the fiber content. Kiwi is one of them. There's kind of randomly been a decent amount of research on the benefits of kiwi for constipation. Yellow dragon fruit is one that's talked about a lot. But really any dragon fruit, again, it's high in fiber.

So I've heard a lot of stories online of people being like, oh, if I need to go to the bathroom, I'll just eat a yellow dragon fruit. And five minutes later, those things. A lot of times I see if you're not eating a lot of fiber, they will do that. If you're already adjusted to a higher amount of fiber, maybe not so much. But in terms of supplements, supplements can be really helpful. Obviously I'm a dietitian, I love food first. But when you're thinking about 32 now, again, early research, 50 grams of fiber a day, that's a lot for most people.

So having a supplement on board could be really helpful. Something like psyllium husk specifically is very, very researched. Doesn't taste the best. But it's a fiber supplement so you can put it in whatever you're drinking and kind of hide it. Sun fiber is another really good one. I would ask your doctor clinician, if you're working with someone about these or research them yourself, but sun fiber is a low fodmap1. So if you're someone with IBS trying to increase fiber, which I know can be really hard, especially if you're in the low fodmap stage, the elimination stage of the diet, some fiber contains a low fodmap fiber.

Inulin is not one that I typically recommend. And inulin is the type of fiber that's often in like low sugar candies. It is fermentable. So sometimes if you aren't aware and you know that you have issues with certain types of fibers, that one tends to be a culprit for a lot of bloating, gas, maybe some pain and discomfort. So that's just one that I recommend. Generally people pay attention to. If you know that you respond to fiber pretty drastically. Caveat there if you have diverticular diverticulosis.

So diverticulitis fiber is good and can help prevent diverticulosis. But if you're in a flare of diverticulosis, typically we do low fiber gastroparesis, we typically do low fiber active flares of IBD and then chronic diarrhea. We typically will do low fiber for that just to not continue irritating the GI system. Are legumes another good source of fiber? Yes. So they're in that like nut seed legume area. Beans typically very high. So for a half cup of beans, which is the serving size on a can is anywhere from like 6 to 9 grams of fiber.

So if you're having a half cup of beans twice a day, you're already eating more fiber than most people do in a day. So beans are great. Kidney beans, cannellini beans, chickpeas, all good sources of fiber. And then you've got things like your peas. So that's one that I actually really love. Kind of a hidden gem, edamame, green peas. If you want to make some sort of like high protein, I don't know, for example, high protein, high fiber, like avocado toast is great. Avocado is a really good source of fiber.

It doesn't have as much protein. If you kind of cut it with edamame or peas, you can boost the protein without eliminating any of the fiber. Also, if avocados are expensive, where you live, frozen peas, honestly, or edamame that you mash up where you can throw in a blender, a little lemon juice, salt is really good in my opinion. I some people don't love that idea. But another good question, other questions about fiber or high fiber foods or yeah, say other really high fiber foods. So we talked about beans, lentils, very, very High in fiber.

It's about 15 grams per cooked cup. Oats are great source of soluble fiber, even corn. So if you're getting fresh, sweet corn is gonna have some fiber. Popcorn as fiber. Berries are very high in terms of, like, the scale of fruit. They're gonna be at the top. Chia seeds, flaxseeds, nuts. Kind of range anywhere from like 1 to 3 grams per serving, but all great. And then just kind of keeping in mind, because they have all foods have a varying amount, all plant foods have a varying amount of insoluble versus soluble.

That's where having variety comes in. And that can be really helpful. So. So I will leave you all with that. Today I'm going to look deeper into your cruciferous vegetable question because I'm curious where that comes from and if I can find out any more information because I might be missing something, because I don't know everything. But I am always willing to learn. So I appreciate you being here. Thanks for talking fiber with me this morning on this lovely Saturday. Hopefully, wherever you are, you get some sunshine.

I know it's a holiday weekend. I keep forgetting I have to remind myself, but I'll see you back here next week. Not sure what I'll talk about yet, but hopefully it'll be good. Pasta noodles made from chickpeas. Yes. Yep. So your chickpea pasta will get you some fiber and a little bit of protein. I love you. I always. I love regular pasta, but I don't always want to put other things on it, like to make a balanced meal. So having the chickpea pasta is helpful because then it just cuts down on some effort.

So. All right, I'll see you all next week. Have a good one.