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Fiber Forward: Balance for Better Health · Talking FACS

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  Welcome to Talking FACS, what you need to know about family,
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  food, finance, and fitness.
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  This nationally recognized, award-winning podcast is hosted by the University
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  of Kentucky Family and Consumer Sciences Extension Program.
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  Our educators share research knowledge with individuals, families,
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  and communities to improve quality of life.
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  There are lots of nutrients that we need to function in all the ways that we are supposed to.
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  Today on Talking FACS, we're talking about something you might not expect in
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  the middle of the protein trend, fiber.
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  With protein shakes, bars, and high-protein diets everywhere,
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  are we missing part of the picture?
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  Welcome to Talking FACS, where we share information that you can use to strengthen
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  your family, your community, and our state.
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  I am your host, Mindy McCulley, Extension Specialist for Instructional Support
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  with Family and Consumer Sciences Extension.
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  To help us understand this fiber puzzle, we are joined by my guest,
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  Anna Cason, who is an Extension Associate with Family and Consumer Sciences,
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  and she is our nutrition expert for the day.
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  Anna, thank you for joining me. Yes, I am so excited to be here, so thanks for having me.
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  And this is such an important conversation, especially with all the talk of
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  protein right now. We're going to level set on what we need and what else we
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  need in addition to protein.
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  And let's just start there with protein. Why is everyone so focused on eating
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  protein all the time right now?
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  Yeah, so protein is important. It helps to build and repair muscles.
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  It supports our immune system.
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  And it plays a role in almost every function in the body.
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  But the interesting thing is most people are already getting enough.
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  Many Americans actually overestimate how much protein they really need.
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  Is this a case where more is not better?
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  Yeah, exactly. So when we focus too heavily on protein, if we're trying to fit
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  too much protein into meals and snacks, especially if we're doing some specific
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  diets like a high protein and.
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  Restricting some other things like a high-protein, low-carb diet.
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  In that instance, we can actually crowd out a lot of these other important nutrients,
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  including fiber, vitamins, and antioxidants from fruits, vegetables, and whole grains.
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  So let's talk about fiber then.
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  What is it? Where can we find it? And why should we care about fiber?
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  Yeah. So fiber is a type of carbohydrate, and it comes from plant foods.
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  Like whole grains, fruits, and vegetables. And interesting, we actually can't
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  fully digest fiber, but it still plays a really important role in the body and
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  has powerful health benefits.
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  So fiber supports our heart health. It helps with blood sugar control.
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  It supports our digestive or our gut health.
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  And it also can help with weight management. That's a lot for one nutrient.
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  So it's not surprising that when people try to not include fiber in their diet,
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  that they're missing out. Yeah, absolutely.
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  It really is. And here's the big issue. More than nine out of 10 Americans are
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  not getting enough fiber in their diet.
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  Women need about 25 grams of fiber per day and men need about 38 grams.
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  That is important to know because it's one of those questions that you always have.
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  I have, I'll look at the nutrition label and be like, okay, there's eight grams of fiber in it.
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  Yeah. So what does that really mean? Yeah. So what does so much on protein,
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  that means we're missing out on some fiber, right?
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  Exactly. Yes. And that's the gap. That's what we want to kind of hone in on
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  today and figure out how we can put all of these puzzle pieces together to make
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  it work without excluding something and making sure we're including this important nutrient.
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  What are some ways that we can get more fiber in our diet? So first off,
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  before we even talk about different food types or different ways to add fiber
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  in, I want to note that it's important to go slow and steady.
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  While fiber is good for us, if we try to add too much and especially if we try
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  to go too quickly, we're going to get some discomfort in our abdomen.
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  We may cause some constipation and then that's going to turn us away from eating fiber altogether.
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  So go slow, go steady. When we're adding fiber to our diet, it's just as important
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  to make sure we're hydrating properly and drinking plenty of water.
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  Regardless of how much you're currently consuming, whatever your baseline is,
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  whether you do eat some fruits, vegetables, whole grains, or if we're not really
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  getting any right now, we want to think about adding
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  small amounts and over extended periods of time.
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  So maybe our goal is to add three grams of fiber for three to five days.
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  So we look at these food sources, we read the nutrition facts label,
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  maybe we find a cereal that has high in fiber, it has those three grams.
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  So maybe over the next three to five days, we're having that for breakfast,
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  we're sticking with that amount for that period of time.
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  And then once we're kind of settled into that, then we can say,
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  okay, let's try to add three more grams, let's find another source.
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  And for three to five days, we'll add in that other amount, maybe it's some
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  berries with our cereal, or if we're doing oatmeal, thinking about,
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  again, slow and steady little baby steps.
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  And this will allow your body to adjust and settle into this new pattern and
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  can help minimize that discomfort and ultimately support gut health in the long run.
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  Makes sense. So do protein and fiber work together or are they competing?
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  Yeah, so they actually work beautifully together. And some of the best foods can give you both.
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  So it's like a bigger bang for your buck. So things like,
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  beans, lentils, and peas, nuts and seeds, or peanut butter, and then whole grains,
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  some whole grains like oats and quinoa, they're going to provide protein and
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  fiber in addition to other nutrients that are going to support our overall health.
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  So plant proteins are a win-win then, I'm guessing.
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  Yes, absolutely. Plant-based foods, which are just foods that come from plants,
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  they grow from the ground.
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  They're going to provide fiber, antioxidants, things that support health,
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  reduce inflammation, and vitamins that all of our bodies need that some of these
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  animal proteins don't provide us. So we're not saying to give up meat.
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  We would never say to give up something altogether.
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  But we just want to think about balance and varying those protein sources.
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  So maybe for a taco night, we're adding beans into our taco in addition to ground meat.
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  Again, not cutting anything out, but thinking about how we can add to our plate.
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  Think about what we can add to get a bigger nutrition bag. I love that you are
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  giving practical examples of things that we can add slowly to get more fiber. Yes.
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  Because that's often a question that I hear. You know, it's like,
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  well, how do I know what to add or how much I need? So these are all great questions.
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  What are some easy ways that our listeners can start getting more fiber in their diet today? Yeah.
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  So we're going to simplify it as much as possible.
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  So let's think about building a plate from mostly plant foods. We think about...
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  What an ideal plate would look like. Half of that plate should be fruits and vegetables.
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  About a quarter of the plate, 25%, should come from grains. And ideally,
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  we're choosing whole grains.
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  So that 75%, those two big sections, those are all going to be plant foods.
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  And then in the other 25%, that other quarter of the plate, it's going to be protein sources.
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  And that could come from plants or it could come from animals.
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  Maybe we're doing some lean meat, some poultry, eggs anything like that so thinking
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  about balancing that plate with a variety of different food groups so we're
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  getting both protein and fiber,
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  so some meal examples for breakfast maybe that looks like oatmeal with chia
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  seeds maybe we add some peanut butter and then some fruit
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  all of those are going to be sources of fiber the peanut butter the chia seeds
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  those oats they're also going to provide us with protein maybe we make our oatmeal
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  with milk so we're getting even more protein in there.
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  For lunch, we could do a salad. Again, biggest portion of that plate is going
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  to come from those greens.
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  Maybe we add grilled chicken on top of it. We could add beans,
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  nuts, and even more vegetables to really bulk up the fiber in that meal.
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  And then same thing with dinner. Like I mentioned, maybe we're doing a taco
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  meal or we're doing a taco bowl.
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  Maybe we include some rice or a tortilla. Maybe we add chicken or ground beef.
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  And or we could add black beans to that, and then some more vegetables.
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  So really thinking about, again, what we can add to the meal to add fiber in
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  addition to some of the nutrients we're already getting.
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  I love these ideas, and you're making me hungry at the moment. I haven't had lunch yet.
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  Yeah, so what are some ways that we can get our listeners to really think about
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  doing this on a regular basis, not
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  just because they heard the podcast and they're going to do it tomorrow?
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  Yeah, absolutely. So some simple swaps or some simple additions.
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  We can think about adding beans to a variety of different meals,
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  maybe soups, maybe tacos, maybe salads, a chili.
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  Beans can come from the pantry aisle. Maybe they're dried beans.
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  They can be canned beans.
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  They can be fresh beans. They can be frozen. There's a variety of different
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  options for where these beans come from. Regardless of where they come from,
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  they're going to be nutritious. They're going to be packed with protein and fiber.
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  So thinking about adding beans when we can.
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  Another simple swap or simple little trick, choosing whole fruit instead of
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  juice. And when we say whole fruit, we mean fresh, frozen, canned, or dried.
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  We just want you to actually eat the fruit versus just drinking it because that
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  whole, the meat of the fruit essentially is going to be what contains the fiber.
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  So we want to make sure we're chewing it, not just drinking it.
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  And then I touched on it a little bit, switching to whole grains instead of
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  refined grains. So that could look like choosing brown rice instead of white rice.
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  It could be a whole wheat pasta.
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  It could be oatmeal. Those are going to be whole grains. It could be some whole grain cereal options.
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  Looking at that nutrition facts label, the ingredients list.
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  And oftentimes, a lot of these packaged foods will have a little logo or a little
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  label on the front to help you identify a whole grain food.
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  And then lastly, another addition we can think about is nuts and seeds.
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  They're going to be high fiber. They're going to be.
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  Protein in some of them. So adding them to salads, adding them to yogurts,
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  snacking on them throughout the day, really finding ways to make it fit within
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  your lifestyle, maybe current meals that you enjoy, what we can add to it to boost that fiber.
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  So I know that there is a misconception that eating healthy and eating well can be expensive.
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  But really, what does eating with fiber her.
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  Look like? Yeah, yeah. So I mentioned some of those sources that we just talked
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  about, like beans, lentils, oats, and some of those frozen fruits and vegetables.
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  They're going to be some of the more affordable and most nutrient-dense foods out there.
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  And we can think about tapping into those sources to help stretch maybe some
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  of the foods that aren't as affordable or maybe one of the pricier items on our grocery list.
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  So thinking about using things like beans and oats to help stretch our meat.
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  So if we're doing that taco meal, like I mentioned, maybe we are using half a pound of ground beef.
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  When we're cooking the ground beef in the skillet, when we're adding those seasonings,
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  we could go ahead and add a can of drained black beans to that dish so that
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  they're getting that seasoning as well.
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  Once we add it to the tacos, it's going to be the same amount,
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  but it's going to be half meat, half beans so that it's going to help to stretch
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  that food budget a little further.
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  Or if we're making things like meatloaf or meatballs, we could think about using
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  oats to help bind it together.
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  Again, oats are going to be a great source of fiber.
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  They're also going to be a lot more affordable than ground meat of any source.
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  So thinking about using that to bulk it.
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  If we can leave listeners with one takeaway, what would it be?
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  To not focus on one nutrient ever. A lot of times we are right now we're thinking
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  about protein, but previously we've seen some trends where we're focusing on
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  carbohydrates or just some of these different nutrients.
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  We don't ever want to put one nutrient on a pedestal or knock one nutrient down
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  because we need all of them for a variety of different reasons.
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  So we want to think about building those balanced meals, which can include and
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  should include protein, those different carbohydrate sources that are going
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  to be that source of fiber in addition to dairy as well.
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  I love that fiber first, but don't forget balance because we've got to have it all, right?
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  Yes, absolutely. Thank you so much for joining us. I always love it when you
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  come on because you give such practical ideas for how we can make eating healthy
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  a regular part of our day.
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  Well, thanks for having me. I love being here. I'm happy to chat anytime.
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  If you are just tuning in, you're listening to Talking FACS,
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  and you can find us wherever you listen to your favorite podcast.
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  Thank you for listening to Talking FACS. We deliver programs focusing on nutrition,
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