The recommended daily intake of fiber is 14 grams per 1000 calories.
Food labels use 25 grams as their daily target, as most labels base their targets on a 2000 calorie per day diet.
Soluble fiber, found in oats, barley, beans, fruits and vegetables, help lower cholesterol and manage blood sugars.
Insoluble fiber, found in fruits, vegetables and grains such as wheat, give stool it's bulk and create regularity.
Isolated fibers, like inulin cellulose and oat hull, being added to foods such as yogurt does not have the evidence to back up it's use. It's not fair to say that 5 grams of inulin added to your granola bar will have the same health benefits as getting 5 grams of intact fiber from a whole food.
Sadly, the food label will just tell you the amount of fiber in the serving, not whether or not it is intact or isolated. Read the list of ingredients to see where the fiber is coming from.
What is the take home message? Human bodies need whole foods, not foods that have been manipulated to 'have all the goodness of whole foods'.
Yours in Health,
Kerri Fullerton
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Monday, September 21, 2009
Sodium - how much are you getting?
Most people know that they should be watching their intake of salt, but how many of them know what they should be watching for?
Ideally we should be keeping our intake of sodium to less than 2300 mg per day, less than 1500 mg if you have high blood pressure or have a family history of it. Do you know what that looks like? One teaspoon, 15 ml, per day - that's it.
Now, one teaspoon is actually quite a bit of salt. Very few people would add that much from the shaker to their food. The major culprits are processed foods and fast foods. Enter label reading.
To keep your levels down, try to keep main meals at less than 500mg and your snacks at less than 200 mg. Manageable with packaged foods, but very hard with fast foods.
A Wheat Carrot muffin from Tim's has 660 mg of sodium. A Mandarin Chicken Salad from Wendy's has just over 1200 mg.
Do yourself a big favour - pack your lunch. If you can't, at least check out the nutritional guides on-line so that you don't eat what you think is a healthy option only to find out later that it wasn't.
Yours in Health,
Kerri Fullerton ND
Ideally we should be keeping our intake of sodium to less than 2300 mg per day, less than 1500 mg if you have high blood pressure or have a family history of it. Do you know what that looks like? One teaspoon, 15 ml, per day - that's it.
Now, one teaspoon is actually quite a bit of salt. Very few people would add that much from the shaker to their food. The major culprits are processed foods and fast foods. Enter label reading.
To keep your levels down, try to keep main meals at less than 500mg and your snacks at less than 200 mg. Manageable with packaged foods, but very hard with fast foods.
A Wheat Carrot muffin from Tim's has 660 mg of sodium. A Mandarin Chicken Salad from Wendy's has just over 1200 mg.
Do yourself a big favour - pack your lunch. If you can't, at least check out the nutritional guides on-line so that you don't eat what you think is a healthy option only to find out later that it wasn't.
Yours in Health,
Kerri Fullerton ND
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Gallstones and cleanses
I have recently had two women in my office who have been experiencing gallstone attacks. Upon further investigation, I found out that both women had been doing a cleanse.
Although cleanses are an important part of a healthy lifestyle, there are times when they need to be done with extreme caution, and preferably under the care of a qualified professional. Gallstones are one of these cases.
If you have gallstones you need to be aware that a sudden decrease in caloric intake or a drop of dietary fat under 10g per day can lead to severe attacks. This is scary, as a stone could get lodged in the duct and lead to emergency surgery.
If you or someone you know has a family history of gallstones, or a personal history of gallstones, please see you Naturopathic Doctor before starting a cleanse or weight loss program.
Yours in Health,
Kerri Fullerton
Although cleanses are an important part of a healthy lifestyle, there are times when they need to be done with extreme caution, and preferably under the care of a qualified professional. Gallstones are one of these cases.
If you have gallstones you need to be aware that a sudden decrease in caloric intake or a drop of dietary fat under 10g per day can lead to severe attacks. This is scary, as a stone could get lodged in the duct and lead to emergency surgery.
If you or someone you know has a family history of gallstones, or a personal history of gallstones, please see you Naturopathic Doctor before starting a cleanse or weight loss program.
Yours in Health,
Kerri Fullerton
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