Grandma was right when she told you to "eat your beans and cornbread." These foods are excellent sources of fiber. The only trouble is that fiber has long had the bad rap of tasting like cardboard. But you can learn to love fiber- not only for its benefits, but also for the easy, tasty ways you can incorporate it into your nutrition program.
What can fiber do for you?
Bulking up on fiber has many health benefits:
Weight Management
Fiber-rich foods may help you keep a trim body. Since they take longer to chew, you may eat more slowly, becoming aware sooner that you are full. Fiber also helps you feel full and slows the emptying of your stomach, which means that you fill up before you overeat. Fiber itself cannot be fattening because it isn't digested!
Constipation, Hemorrhoids, Diverticulosis
Fiber absorbs water, helps the stool to pass through the digestive system more quickly and easily, and helps prevent constipation. As a result, you're less likely to strain with bowel movements and therefore to develop hemorrhoids -- helping you avoid two common pregnancy discomforts at the same time! Fiber is standard therapy for the treatment of diverticular disease, a painful condition that occurs when the tiny sacs in the intestinal wall become weak and infected. A high- fiber diet helps to keep these sacs from becoming inflamed.
