If you are achieving a great lifestyle habit of meeting your recommended dietary fibre requirements this is the gold medal standard, right? While this is a great achievement as most adults fail to meet their recommended 35-38g of dietary fibre requirements daily, the important of variety in the plant-based sources is also important.(1)
Each plant-based food from legumes and bean, fruit, vegetables, nuts and seeds, and wholegrains all provide your body with different nutrients and different types of fibre. This is important for many reasons. Each variety of gut microbes fuel off specific types of prebiotic fibre sources which is why certain food group fibre types are linked to certain health benefits when included while other are not.
An example is a study which investigated the effects of inflammation in older adults. The adults who ate more wholegrains were associated with lower levels of inflammation and possibly linked with decreased risk of heart disease in other roles. This correlation was not seen in the fibre found in fruit or vegetables (2).
A study which investigated the potential effect of fibre on risk of diabetes found that the participants which included the most wholegrains in their diets had a twenty seven percent lower risk of developing diabetes over a seven-year period. This association was specific to wholegrains and not total fibre in the diet (3)
Another example is a study which investigated the possible effects of fibre on osteoarthritis. The participants which consumed the most wholegrains in their diet had a fourteen percent lower risk of their joint pain worsening compared to those eating the least wholegrains. This correlation was not seen in other varieties of fibre including nuts and fruit varieties (4).
These examples are not suggesting cutting out your dietary fibre from other plant sources and sticking purely to wholegrains. All varieties are needed for not only fibre but other nutrients which support your health. It is recommended to aim to include thirty different whole plant-based foods a week to support a healthy gut microbiome.
If this feels like a daunting task, try to add one to two new plant-based foods each week. Focusing on achievable goals is the key to developing a lifestyle habit which reaps the long-term health benefits.
Some plant-based ideas to add to your day could be:
- Adding a piece of fruit on top of your wholegrain toast at breakfast such as peanut butter and sliced banana, apple, pear or a sprinkle of berries.
- Halve the amount of meat in your bolognaise sauce and add more legumes like kidney beans or lentils. Also, swapping white pasta for wholegrain or whole meal varieties.
- Snack on a bowl of soup.
- Add more plant-based toppings to your wholegrain crackers such as avocado and pepitas.
- Add a meat free meal to your week.
Take home message: Adding enough and a variety of plant-based foods to your week does not need to be hard, it can be simple as adding or swapping what you are doing already.
References:
- McDonald D, Hyde E, Debelius JW, Morton JT, Gonzalez A, Ackermann G, Aksenov AA, Behsaz B, Brennan C, Chen Y, DeRight Goldasich L, Dorrestein PC, Dunn RR, Fahimipour AK, Gaffney J, Gilbert JA, Gogul G, Green JL, Hugenholtz P, Humphrey G, Huttenhower C, Jackson MA, Janssen S, Jeste DV, Jiang L, Kelley ST, Knights D, Kosciolek T, Ladau J, Leach J, Marotz C, Meleshko D, Melnik AV, Metcalf JL, Mohimani H, Montassier E, Navas-Molina J, Nguyen TT, Peddada S, Pevzner P, Pollard KS, Rahnavard G, Robbins-Pianka A, Sangwan N, Shorenstein J, Smarr L, Song SJ, Spector T, Swafford AD, Thackray VG, Thompson LR, Tripathi A, Vázquez-Baeza Y, Vrbanac A, Wischmeyer P, Wolfe E, Zhu Q; American Gut Consortium; Knight R. American Gut: an Open Platform for Citizen Science Microbiome Research. mSystems. 2018 May 15;3(3):e00031-18. doi: 10.1128/mSystems.00031-18. PMID: 29795809; PMCID: PMC5954204.
- Shivakoti R, Biggs ML, Djoussé L, Durda PJ, Kizer JR, Psaty B, Reiner AP, Tracy RP, Siscovick D, Mukamal KJ. Intake and Sources of Dietary Fiber, Inflammation, and Cardiovascular Disease in Older US Adults. JAMA Netw Open. 2022 Mar 1;5(3):e225012. doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2022.5012. PMID: 35357453; PMCID: PMC8972036.
- Schulze MB, Schulz M, Heidemann C, Schienkiewitz A, Hoffmann K, Boeing H. Fiber and magnesium intake and incidence of type 2 diabetes: a prospective study and meta-analysis. Arch Intern Med. 2007 May 14;167(9):956-65. doi: 10.1001/archinte.167.9.956. PMID: 17502538.
- Dai Z, Niu J, Zhang Y, et alDietary intake of fibre and risk of knee osteoarthritis in two US prospective cohortsAnnals of the Rheumatic Diseases 2017;76:1411-1419.
