Eat your freakin' fibre

We know the name, we know we eat it, and we’re always told to eat more but what do we really know about fibre? 

Great things young athletes need to know about fibre.

• It doesn’t digest. Yep, it’s the stuff we have to poop out. Yep, enough said but we need fibre to keep us ‘regular’. We don’t want things speeding up or slowing down
• It comes from all the plant material we eat. Think grains, seeds, skins, pips. Think the stringy bits on celery, the apple skins and the tomato seeds. Think grainy breads and cereals, and nuts and seeds 
• It totally keeps our gut healthy and keeps our good gut bacteria in check. Believe us…you need to have a healthy gut system. There is really good evidence now that a good gut helps with a healthy immune system. Something to consider if you are often feeling run-down
• Different nutrients get absorbed at different places along our total gut length. It’s important to keep it all moving along to maximise nutrient absorption. This is where a good fibre intake helps
• When you eat a lot of food (and boy, young athletes can eat a lot of food!) you need a good intake of fibre to help keep everything passing on through
• There are 3 types of fibre. Who knew? Keep reading for more about this.

These are the 3 types of fibre and all of them are great:

1. Soluble fibre. Yep, it actually dissolves in water and forms a gel-like substance. Oats are a good example…they go gel-like in the bowl when they are cooked. Fruits and vegetables and barley all contain good sources of soluble fibre. 
2. Insoluble fibre. Yep, it doesn’t dissolve and passes through the digestive tract mostly intact. Its our wholegrain breads and cereals, skins of fruits and vegetables, and nuts and seeds
3. Resistant Starch. Yep, now it gets confusing but it’s easy. Its starchy molecules (actually long chains of glucose molecules) that are resistant to digestion. Potatoes and rice are good examples of resistant starch. In fact cooked and cooled potatoes and rice have high amounts of resistant starch. (Think sushi and potato salad). So do green bananas if you love them!

How much fibre should you have?

Females (14-18 yr) ~25grams a day

Female (adults) ~30grams a day

Males (14-18 yr) ~35grams a day

Males (adults) ~40grams a day

Your homework: 

Although fibre is not a legal requirement on a food label you can start looking at the fibre content of some of the foods you eat by checking the backs of foods packets. 

An afternoon snack of a slice of grain toast with 1 tablespoon crunchy peanut butter plus an apple gives you 7 grams of fibre. 

We food people don’t nag on about fruits and vegetables and eating wholegrain breads and cereals just to be annoying. We actually know that these foods are going to be more beneficial to you than you think. Eat your freakin’ fibre!

(And if you have any questions jump to our Contacts page and ask us any questions. We are happy to help you out!)