SHAPE UP
Slimming down with fiber

By Charles Stuart Platkin

Basically, fiber is the indigestible portion of plant foods. And get this: It has no calories. There are two types of fiber, soluble and insoluble, but most foods have both.

Soluble fiber, such as oatmeal, dissolves in water to create a gel-like substance that attaches to fats and ushers them out of the body. This has been found to help lower serum cholesterol and triglyceride levels. It also helps control blood sugar levels by minimizing spikes in blood sugar.

Insoluble fiber doesn't dissolve during digestion and helps keep our bodies "regular" by retaining water and helping move waste through the intestinal tract. Research has shown it may also help prevent medical problems such as constipation, hemorrhoids, diverticulosis and colon cancer.

One of the most surprising benefits is that both types of fiber can help you lose weight — but not because they burn calories or fat. Fiber-rich foods help people lose weight in two ways. First, fiber provides bulk, which makes you feel full. Additionally, fiber slows digestion, which makes you feel satisfied longer.

A recent University of California-Davis study, published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, shows that foods high in fiber helped women feel more full using a biochemical mechanism similar to the one triggered by eating fat (but without any calories). Barbara Schneeman, a nutrition professor who led the study, explains: "The addition of fiber to a meal can increase a person's feeling of being full. It appears this is due not only to fiber creating a greater volume of food in the gastrointestinal tract, but also because it promotes the release of cholecystokinin." This hormone, which also is released in response to fat intake, tells the brain that the body is satiated.

Sounds great, right? Unfortunately, despite all of these benefits, the average American consumes less than half of the recommended daily fiber intake of 25 to 30 grams. Anything that comes from plants — including veggies, fruits, whole grains and beans — is a great source of fiber. Here are some ways of increasing fiber in your diet:

Fruits and vegetables

• Add vegetables to casseroles, soups, salads, sandwiches and pasta and rice dishes. For example, simply add a cup of broccoli to a pasta dish for an extra two grams of fiber.
• For the greatest benefit, don't peel fruits and vegetables — eating the skin and membranes ensures that you get every bit of fiber. A baked potato with the skin has twice the fiber of a potato without the skin.
• Try to eat raw vegetables whenever possible — cooking them may reduce fiber content by breaking fiber into its carbohydrate components. To avoid this, cook, microwave or steam vegetables only until they are al dente — tender, but still firm to the bite.
• Keep in mind that whole fruits and vegetables contain more fiber than juice, which lacks the skin and membranes.

Legumes

• Add legumes (lentils, beans, peas) to all sorts of dishes including soups, stews and salads.

Grains

• Have sandwiches on whole-grain bagels, breads and pitas. Whole wheat, rye and pumpernickel breads can have up to twice the fiber that white bread does. Just don't be fooled by terms like "wheat bread," "multigrain" or "with whole grain," which might have a small percentage of whole grains. As a guideline, aim for two grams of fiber per slice.
• Add bran or wheat germ to casseroles, meatloaf and cooked cereal. Each tablespoon of bran adds more than one gram of fiber and can barely be detected when blended with some cereal or a casserole.
• Use brown or wild rice in place of white rice, and whole-wheat pasta instead of refined. If switching to brown rice is too drastic for you, try mixing brown and white together.
• If your favorite recipe calls for 1 cup of white flour, use half a cup of whole-grain flour and half a cup of white flour instead. (If you use all whole-grain flour, it may be too dense.)
• Experiment with unfamiliar whole grains — try cooking with barley, buckwheat, bulgur, millet, quinoa, rye berries or wheat berries.

When in doubt, read the label. The food label can state that a product is "a good source" of fiber if it contributes 10 percent of the Daily Value (DV), or 2.5 grams of fiber per serving.

The package can claim "high in," "rich in" or "excellent source of" fiber if the product provides 20 percent of the DV, or five grams per serving.

If you're like most Americans, you'll need to take it easy at first. If you don't regularly eat the recommended 25 to 30 grams of fiber per day, make sure to increase your fiber consumption gradually.

If you don't feel like counting, that basically means you should eat five servings of fruits and vegetables and seven servings of whole grains and beans per day.

Keep in mind that too much of a good thing can be bad — if you eat 60 grams (or more) of fiber a day, you'll experience unwanted side-effects, such as increased gas. Remember, it's all about balance.

Charles Stuart Platkin is a syndicated health, nutrition and fitness columnist.