Sound the fiber alarm! Most of us need more of it in our diet

当我们在日常饮食中导航时，有很多健康因素需要记住:卡路里, carbohydrates, protein, saturated fat, vitamins and minerals, to name a few.

Did you forget fiber? A lot of people do.

"We've known this forever, and it has to get rediscovered all the time," said Joanne Slavin, 他是明尼阿波利斯明尼苏达大学食品科学与营养学教授. "Fiber is really good medicine. It's the one thing we want people to eat more of."

For decades, that message has been preached by dietitians, headlined in health magazines, and inscribed on packages of cereal, many other foods and dietary supplements.

然而，研究表明，许多美国人的纤维摄入量远远低于他们所需的水平. In one alarming example, 《线上电子游戏飞禽走兽》2017年的一项分析得出结论，95%的成年人和儿童没有摄入健康所需的纤维量.

Those recommendations vary by age and gender, 但斯拉文表示，平均每天摄入约28克纤维, "and the average intake is only about 14 grams. So, for most people, there's a 14-gram gap."

纤维是植物性食物中的一种物质，它不能被分解，不能被消化. 它主要存在于水果、蔬菜、坚果、全谷物和谷物中. Why is it important? Let us count the ways.

Fiber has been shown to help protect against heart disease, diabetes, diverticulitis, inflammatory bowel syndrome, obesity and colorectal cancer. Fiber can help flush toxins from the body, 降低胆固醇，促进减肥，因为它有助于人们在摄入更少卡路里的同时产生饱腹感.

But when people eat on the run, 少吃水果和蔬菜，多吃加工食品, "you don't have many good sources of fiber," said Judith Wylie-Rosett, 他是纽约市阿尔伯特·爱因斯坦医学院的教授，专门研究营养与疾病之间的联系. “肥胖的流行是我们没有取得所需进展的具体证据."

在我们的饮食中加入更多纤维的方法有很多. One pitfall, Wylie-Rosett said, 是被挑战压得喘不过气来，想要快速完成太多.

“有些人突然决定一下子增加纤维摄入量，结果产生了副作用, like feeling gassy and bloated," she said. "So they quit doing it."

Instead, Slavin和Wylie-Rosett建议逐步改变饮食方式，以获得更有利于纤维的饮食. Here are some tips:

-选择全谷物制成的面包、意大利面和谷物，以及糙米.

-吃水果，如苹果和橙子，而不是喝果汁. Berries with seeds, such as strawberries, raspberries and blackberries, are good sources of fiber, as are avocados.

– Include vegetables with every meal, and incorporate vegetables and legumes – especially beans, peas and lentils – into everyday recipes. Then snack on nuts, fruits and low-calorie popcorn.

多年来，斯拉文一直在提供这样的建议，但人们却对它置若罔闻. "It's hard to make fiber exciting," she said. "As dietitians, 我们希望你吃得好，多吃水果和蔬菜, 但我们也明白，普通人并没有做到这一点. So we have to meet them where they are."

斯拉文发现，在食物中添加纤维的趋势正在增长，这可能是你意想不到的, from beverages to snack foods to candy gummies.

“如果你要吃饼干，那就吃燕麦饼干吧，”她说. “不需要大量的纤维就能产生真正的效果. 每个人，甚至快餐业，都需要成为解决方案的一部分. 在你的饮食中有很多空间可以获得你能忍受的纤维，这真的很重要."

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