- We don't eat nearly enough fibre in the UK.
- Lack of fibre is causing widespread health issues.
- Be discerning about added fibre.
- Eat more fibre!
In the UK, a staggering 90% of adults do not consume anywhere near the recommended amount of dietary fibre. In fact, according to the latest figures, levels of fibre consumption among the UK population are just 60% of the recommended amount of 30g per day. Among children, the problem is even more acute, with 96% of children falling short of this figure.
The health consequences of this are catastrophic, yet time and time again, discussion on "healthy" diets in the media or in government policy, simply focusses on sugar and salt, without any mention of fibre.
It may seem trivial, but sufficient fibre in your diet is linked to a dramatically lower risk of heart disease, cancer, type 2 diabetes, obesity and a range of other health conditions. Worryingly, a growing body of evidence is now even linking a lack of dietary fibre to incidences of Alzheimer's as well. Poor gut health has a myriad of knock-on implications for mental and physical health, that we are only beginning to understand.
At the East Anglia Food Innovation Cluster's conference last month, I asked the researchers from the University of East Anglia what single dietary health challenge we should all be trying to tackle with our products. The answer, unanimously and without hesitation, was a lack of fibre.
What is dietary fibre then? Well, fibre is a type of carbohydrate that our digestive system can't break down. There are two main categories:
Soluble fibre: Found in things like fruit and oats. This blends with water in your gut, to form a gel like substance, which slows digestion down and prevents the absorption of fats. This type of fibre also helps regulate blood glucose levels and it's key in maintaining healthy gut bacteria.
Insoluble fibre: Found in things like wheat bran and nuts. This provides roughage, to aid the movement of food through the digestive system. I don't think this needs too much explanation.....
It's recommended that adults eat at least 30g of dietary fibre every day. Dietary fibre excludes what's called "functional fibre", which is added to processed foods. This can come from a range of source, such as wholegrains, fruit and nuts.
Sadly, a lot of foods that may seem "healthy", overlook the fibre component. A great example of this would be white sourdough bread from an artisan bakery. It's delicious and there are many reasons to buy this product, but that white flour is still white flour. It's had the bran removed (and with it most of the fibre and nutrients). I'll save my rant about white flour for another article, but don't be fooled into thinking just because something is "hand made" it's packed full of fibre.
You'll be pleased to know that a 90g serving of Oliver's Muesli provides approximately 30% of this recommended fibre intake (thank me later). This is no accident. As well as directly helping support sustainable farming, eating a bowl of Oliver's Muesli is also helping make a meaningful impact to your health.
The more I learn about the impact of a lack of fibre, the more passionately I feel about this issue. It's so simple to solve, yet seems to be completely overlooked by most people (although this is starting to change). A lack of fibre is quite literally crippling the health of the country. Therefore, if you can do one thing, eat more fibre!