The fiber is that part of a plant that the body cannot digest and hence passes through the digestive system acting like a broom and sweeping all unnecessary leftovers from the digestible food.

One of the most important nutrients to incorporate in your diet is fiber. For an adult, the recommended daily amount of fiber is 25 to 30 grams. If you don’t get enough fiber in your diet, the risk for many health problems increases. The health problems related to insufficient fiber intake is: high cholesterol, constipation, weight gain, cancer of the colon and irritable bowel syndrome.

Fibers can be found naturally in many foods. To get more fiber in your diet, firstly replace white bread with whole-wheat bread. Only ½ cup of whole-wheat flour has more than 7 grams of fiber. Also whole-wheat cereals are packed with fiber. If you like beans, they are a very good source of fiber and so are other legumes. Only ½ cup of cooked beans contains 6-6 grams of fiber. Fruits and veggies are known to have a lot of fiber and hence are recommended when “dieting”. Red raspberries are very good source of fiber (1 cup of fresh fruit contains 8 grams of fiber). Pears, apples and prunes also are a good choice (1 serving contains 4 grams of fiber). Broccoli, carrots, cabbage, lettuce, tomato and spinach all contain 2 grams of fiber per serving, while baked potato contains 4 grams per serving (with skin).