About this fiber thing

It's really interesting that so many of the commenters yesterday mentioned that the solution to their children's potty problems (especially peeing problems) was giving their kids more fiber.

Since I've been getting 5 servings of vegetables every day, I decided to take the next step and start looking at my fiber intake. Apparently adequate fiber intake is the lynchpin of good health. Its helps with elimination, moisture maintenance, glucose and insulin level regulation, healthy skin, and weight maintenance. It helps prevent cancers of the bowel, colon, and stomach. (And, according to this book, eating enough fiber is all you need to do to lose weight. Right.)

In short, fiber is good. Adults are supposed to be getting 30 grams or more a day. (I didn't see a figure for kids in the stuff I was reading, so if anyone knows a good benchmark for fiber intake for kids, please post it.)

I gave in and joined FitDay.com (which I don't love, but it's free and seems to work OK) to track what I was eating to see how I was doing on fiber. You'd think raw kale and spinach would add a lot of fiber to your morning smoothie, but you'd be wrong, because the smoothie ingredient that actually contains the most fiber is the frozen raspberries I've been tossing in just because I like the taste. But I've been getting around 20-25 g of fiber a day without trying very hard (except for the vegetable thing, which was hard at the beginning but isn't anymore).

I'm starting the T-Tapp 60-Day Challenge on Friday, and have decided that my game plan is consistency with the workouts (three a week) and 40 g of fiber a day (I picked 40 sort of randomly). So over this week I've been slowly trying to bump up my fiber intake so I don't cause any sudden stomach issues. The next step is going to be to try to switch around some of the things the boys eat so they're getting more fiber without noticing the difference. I think in the long run, being in the habit of getting plenty of fiber is one of the best things that can happen to them healthwise.

Anyone else interested in investigating the whole fiber thing? Thoughts? Secret recipes? Have you upped your own fiber? Have you upped your kids' fiber?

(My favorite breakfast so far is cooked quinoa, reheated in the microwave at work, with raw almonds, pumpkin seeds, and dried cranberries and a little raw honey. 15g of fiber, and sticks with you for hours and hours and hours.)

Comments

[Caroline]

Julie, I buy my flax pre-ground (Bob's Red Mill brand, I think). But now I wonder, does that make it less potent? I've also heard of people grinding it in a coffee grinder (presumably not the one you use for coffee.)

My most fantastic trick with steel cup oats is to start them the night before. Just bring them to a boil and shut it off and leave it right there on the stove. In the morning they just need a few minutes to finish. Thank you Martha Stewart. Only useful thing I ever learned from her.

[Shelley]

Oddly, my daughter's favorite breakfast cereal is shredded wheat. Lots of fiber. She's always loved refried beans. As a baby her favorite homemade baby food was a lentil/sweet potato mush.

For me, I've found a fairly simple thing to do is to have sliced tomatoes, cucumbers and bell peppers on sandwiches -- delicious, and helps add in a serving of veggies at lunch.

For an afternoon snack, I have a handful of almonds and raisins. Filling, in addition to having lots of fiber.

[Caroline]

Ooh, and Mangos! I read they're a great fiber source, and now the Ataulfo type is back in season those are spectacular. They're the yellow-skinned type, and they taste pretty much like candy. Mmmmm. Never met a kid that didn't love them. If I don't eat them all first.

[pnuts mama]

this is so weird since i was just reading an article re: fiber intake and soluble vs. insoluble. i'm sure it wouldn't hurt if i paid more attention to the types we eat and the amount.

as usual, you all rock! thanks for the great tips!

p.s.- for those of you cutting back on the hfcs but still love soda as a treat, just found the kosher for passover coke in our big grocery store- the 2 liters have yellow caps this year. just to be clear, coke in the US is always kosher, but this brand is specifically kosher for passover (sucrose/sugar as sweetener, not hfcs) since it does not have corn as a sweetener. mmmm...

[hedra]

You can eat kiwi skins?

Cool. (Kiwi are on the kids' okay list, and M always wants to eat the skin... I just didn't let her!)

[Slim]

Yes, you can use your coffee grinder to grind flaxseed -- just wipe/brush it out between grindings.

[paola]

I grind all my daughter's grains with my MIL's old coffee grinder ( don't think it has seen a coffee grain in the last 2 decades). Much easier to grind some rice (smelt, barley etc) roughly then cook it in 5 minutes, rather than cook the grains whole for 20 minutes.

[mamaloo]

We eat hummus, lots of beans, only grain-ful commercial breads and try to get some veggies and fruit in.

When we had trouble with soiling we actually got some Fibre One bars and my son got a 1/4 bar each morning in addition to his other foods, specifically to boost the fibre in his gut to help with producing a better poop. We only did that for a couple weeks and it was something we did as a short term therapeutic thing that we've since adjusted for in our regular diet.

I also try to get oatmeal eaten at breakfast, make my own granola bars from time to time and sneak whole wheat flour into things like cookies.

My ultimate fibre weapon is this recipe for the best brown bread ever on my Vegetarian Moms site. It is super fast and easy and yummy! http://vegetarianmoms.wordpress.com/2008/04/09/the-best-brown-bread-everthe-best-brown-bread-ever/

[Eliza]

Guinness and frosted mini wheats...one for me, one for the kiddies (which is which depends on the day)

[SarcastiCarrie]

In chocolate chip cookies or banana muffins, replace the (icky icky) walnuts with flax meal. So yum. Definitely health food.

I do all my nut and flax grinding in a coffee grinder. I have never ground coffee but I'm sure it's good for that too. I do wipe it out occasionally with a paper towel (I worry about rancid).

Right this very second I am eating South Beach Living granola clusters (free sample!) and they have 6 g fiber in a 1 ounce (30 g) serving.

[Jamie]

I've heard that the Fiber One All Bran cereal (the sticks) is great for use as breading for homemade chicken tenders, etc. Basically, if you blend up the sticks in a blender, you have instant breadcrumbs (perhaps mixed with egg whites-- I'm sure there's a recipe out there...) Or, you can just grind it up and sprinkle it on anything! Super high in fiber and no HFCS. Also, you can mix some of this in with a cereal that you like so that you can 1) eat more cereal for your caloric buck; and 2) mask the taste.

[Mommie Mentor]

Guest Poster on Timeout here,
I've always had a gut that needed attention. I was raised on goats milk and now at almost 50, yikes, I have a need for fiber. I found a delicious, if you like grains, cereal at Trader Joe's. It gives me 12 grams of fiber for breakfast and carries me for about 4-5 hours!
It has flax seeds, pumpkin seeds, Omega 3's and 6's, plus a bunch of other goodies in it. It's called Natures Path Organic Pumpkin Flax Plus Granola. I add orange flavored dried cranberries, also from TJ's to it and use soy or rice milk. It works.
For little ones one way, I think it was already mentioned, to get fiber in their diet is to offer them dried prunes! They are so sweet, and Sunsweet, I think it's Sunsweet, puts them in wrappers like candy. I told my son, they were as sweet as candy, and never mentioned they were good for him, and he would ask for them as a treat over and over again.
Also, try Ezeckel (spelling) bread, also at TJ's. I love it toasted, my husband says it tastes like cardboard! It feels really good in my system and it stopped the bloating was having from wheat.

[Jan]

@shirky, we did half-beans for our kids, too. No dollhouse knife; I pinched 'em with my fingernails!

Of course, today I took them for a health-filled lunch at the golden arches, but they can't be healthy EVERY day. Right? RIGHT?!?

[Julie]

@Paola, he's 2 1/2, and goes through serious eating jags....and has done so since birth - ie: refusing to eat as a power struggle and *not* b/c he's not hungry. (I think this goes back to all my overactive/overproduction nursing problems when eating was truly difficult, frustrating and painful for him) Often he IS hungry but still refusing to eat. So most of the time I go with the flow, remove myself from the equation as much as possible - get dad to get him to try new foods, not me.....etc. But it drives me nuts just the same. JUST FREAKING EAT! I know you're hungry, YOU know you're hungry, just DO IT. Thank you, The End.

[Missy]

Here is the refrigerator bran muffin recipe I use. I put the original recipe here with my modifications in parentheses. This calls for very specific types of cereal, basically any two types of bran cereals work - I just use what I have, just get a different consistency. Also, I think these are better if you let the batter sit overnight before making the first batch. For a quick breakfast, you can make these (one at a time) in a greased small glass bowl or coffee cup in the microwave.

You can google bran muffins and find tons of recipes.

Ingredients
• 2 cups boiling water
• 2 cups Post 100% Bran cereal (any kind of bran bud or twig type cereal)
• 3 cups sugar (I use half of this amount)
• 1 cup + 2 Tbsp. shortening (I use butter, not softened)
• 4 eggs, beaten
• 1 qt. buttermilk
• 4 cups Kellogg's All-Bran (flakes work too)
• 5 cups flour (I use part whole wheat flour)
• 5 tsp. soda
• 1 tsp. salt
Directions
Pour boiling water over the 100% Bran and let stand to soak. Cream sugar and shortening. Add eggs and buttermilk. add 4 cups All-Bran. Sift together flour, soda, and salt, then add to bran mixture. Fold in soaked Nabisco Bran. Makes 1 gallon batter that will keep up to 6 weeks in tightly covered refrigerator container. As needed, bake muffins at 400 degrees F for 15-18 minutes. May add raisins, dates, and nuts, if desired, at baking time.

[Maureen]

Sorry, me again... I saw the post about the pumpkin and it reminded me of another suggestion. Most times when we make oatmeal for the boys, we add a good 1/2 cup or so canned pumpkin, plus a little cinnamon (did you know that is actually good for you rather than just a tasty spice?), some chopped up apples (we put those in raw when we start cooking the oatmeal so they are a nice cooked/soft texture when it is all finished (we typically try to do the 30 minute steel cut), some flax seed (ground), a little wheat germ, and a little brown sugar. Actually rather tasty. Boys really like it too.

[Nancy]

For those who enjoy steel cut oats, don't forget you can make them in the crock pot too!

1 cup steel cut oats
4 1/2 cups water
1/2 teaspoon salt
2-3 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup dried fruit (raisins, prunes, apricots, dates) (optional)

Cover and cook on low 6-8 hours.

You can google similar recipes for other grains like quinoa. I'm going to have to get cracking on trying some of these!

And why is it that in my midwestern brain, never NEVER having eaten butternut squash til I met my New England inlaws, that I didn't equate pumpkin=squash? I've been making butternut squash for the babies, but it didn't even dawn on me that I could use a can of Trader Joe's organic pumpkin puree!! The girls love yogurt, so I'm going to try mixing them. They love prunes too, but I'll keep Hedra's sage advice in mind.

@electriclady

Prunes are so easy to make for babies!
I just buy a canister of prunes (no other added ingredients), dump them in a pan with water to cover and simmer for 20 minutes. Then scoop them into the food processor with a bit of the cooking water and puree. Unlike every other fruit/veggie I've made, these do not freeze into handy cubes - too soft. Next time I'll just pour the mix into a container with a lid and scoop it out like ice cream.

[Katie B.]

re: using coffee grinders for spices and other such things

I always understood that you should keep one for coffee and one for other things (unless you like spice-flavored coffee - yum!). If you only have one for all purposes, or just want to clean what you have out, whirl some rice for a few seconds, that will absorb oils and remove unwanted bits.

[strugi]

My 14 month old son loves quinoa. For breakfast I make what we call quinoasotto-basically it is cooked in the manner of risotto. I use juice then milk as the cooking liquid and add the dried fruit du jour-raisins, dried apricots, craisins. It has a ton of protein and fiber. The only failure is the mixture of calcium and iron. It is good and I can cook enough on a Sunday for us to eat for the week. I like sending him off to daycare with some protein.

Moxie-I wrote to you two weeks about about my broken ankle-thank you so much for the suggestion about using a stroller around the downstairs! I just have not gone upstairs in two weeks-between the stroller and the fracture boot I am healing and not feeling too stuck. Thank you.

[carmie]

RDA for fiber from ages 1-3.9 is 19 grams/day, and ages 4-8.9 is 25 grams/day. After 9, it goes up to 31 for boys and 26 for girls. I pulled that from one of my nutrition textbooks, and that's the official recommendation from the ADA in 2004.

Berries are my favorite way to get fiber into my 2 year old. He's also a pasta lover, and I've started using Barilla Plus pasta mixed with a little olive oil and some frozen peas. It tastes wonderful - much better than regular whole wheat pasta. Check out the protein content, and I think it's a complete vegetable protein as it's a lentil/chickpea/wheat/flax flour!

http://www.barillaus.com/Home/Pages/PLUS_information.aspx

I give him Craisins instead of raisins even though they're higher in sugar - and that's added sugar. He tries to feed everything to the dog and even when the dog is shut up in the laundry room, E still finds a way to squirrel away some food for him in the crevices of his high chair. I got tired of being on raisin alert and switched to Craisins since raisins & grapes are poisonous to dogs.

[Kate]

My son is autistic and a food self-limiter, and we have struggled for almost his whole life to get any, much less healthy, food in. We too mixed fruit and veg with yogurt to keep him regular, but here's what worked to interest him in nonjarred veg and fruit:

Offer the "least of three evils." That means, prepare three vegetables (or whatever foods you want your child to eat, as long as they are similar to one another), then give them the choice. What works for me is to tip the balance a bit - "you can have 4 carrot dice or 1 spinach leaf or 4 broccoli trees." Guess what, he chose the spinach, and loved it. I can't emphasize how amazing this was, and now he eats a handful of leaves at a meal without coercion.

Another tip: use raw wheat germ (less crunchy) in things like pancake or waffle batter, to raise the nutritional level and fiber, but ease off the detection. I don't believe in deceiving kids about food but I also don't need to put flashing lights around the fact that it's healthy ....

[Jamie]

Another idea is to make Fiber One muffins (about 5 grams of fiber each) and to substitute a can of pumpkin in place of the oil and eggs. In fact, you can do this with any boxed mix (an old weight watchers trick). So, it's lower in calories/fat, and higher in fiber (each serving of canned pumpkin puree has about 3 grams fiber). Each muffin ends up having approx. eight grams of fiber (although-- I should mention that this mix does have some of the "bad" boxed ingredients--HFCS, partially hydrogenated oil, etc.) You can always make your own with the pumpkin substitute though!

Also, we buy these drinks online called Fibre Juice. They are juice boxes and come in four different flavors (apple, fruit punch, etc.) Each juice box has five grams of fiber, is 100% juice, tastes amazing, and helps my son tremendously whenever he's constipated.

[S. Marie]

Quinoa needs to be washed really well before using as it is covered in saponin. Saponin is bitter and you will know if you did not remove it if your cooking water seems soapy. Besides not tasting good, saponins are not digestible and may cause intestinal damage or malabsorption issues.

Quinoa "flakes" are also often available in the health food stores. I use these to replace 1/2 the flour in muffins. Then I use ground almond meal (Trader Joe's) to replace 1/4 of the flour.

Thanks everyone for the great ideas!

[heather]

My daughter is super-regular and I chalk this up to 3 things: drinking lots of water (besides nursing, she drinks nothing else), eating fresh fruit, and cereal every morning. I make her cereal: 1 cup of rolled oats, 0.25 cup of bran cereal, 0.25 cup of nuts, 2 tbsp of wheat germ. Toast it all for ~10 minutes and mix in a blender. For morning cereal, mix with homo milk. Or for snacks, mix with something else (pureed veggies or yogurt or pureed fruit). It's a tasty and healthy way to get fiber and grains. (Until she turned 1 I left out the nuts.)

[wendy]

So many great ideas here!!

A quick note about grindin flax: I do it in my blender. It takes a bit (a few minutes depending on how finely you like them ground) but your blender is designed to be used that way. Also, if you use your coffee grinder you can clean it really effectively by grinding a peice of soft bread.

I make prune butter to use instead of jam or to mix into plain yogurt or oatmeal. Put prunes in a sauce pan with just enough water to cover them and simmer for 15-20 minutes. When they've cooled, dump the whole mess including the water into the blender and pulse until smooth. You may need to add a bit of water to get the consistency right. Honestly, my babies have never been constipated!

[Marta]

I give my 15 month old dried green peas. They are from a company called Just Tomatoes, and there is NOTHING addded. Just peas. He loves them, and eats them for every meal. The fiber keeps him perfectly regular. :)

[paola]

@hedra, re: kiwi skin. yes you can eat it. I used to eat whole kiwis. the skin taste a little better after a good wash, but once you eat them that way, they'll seem very bland without the skin

[S. Marie]

So I used the quinoa flakes as cereal for the first time this morning and added some oat bran and raisins, for a bowl full of yummy fiber that needed no sweetener and was ready in less than 2 minutes! Thanks for the inspiration.

[LisaO]

A good way to track fiber (and everything else) is MyFoodDiary.com. It isn't free, but the food database is huge so adding your foods is easy. I used it to lose some weight a couple years ago and have kept my account up and now have lately been tracking fiber. All PPs have had great suggestions - esp. beans. Anyone mention almonds? A staple for me. Someone mentioned breakfast ... I make a smoothie for that keeps me satiated for a few hours - (frozen) berries for the fiber, banana, yogurt, protein powder.

[S. Marie]

Is anyone worried about the BPA lining the cans of beans and pumpkin?

Check out the Environmental Working Group: http://www.ewg.org/node/20936

[Psyllium seed Powder]

Very informative and interesting article to be read....

[Diet Tracker]

I too have had long time digestive troubles. I started using OnTarget Nutrition a few months ago and realized just how many nutrients (fiber included) I was short on. But also realized my sugar was off the charts, and mostly because I wasn't paying attention to nutrition labels while shopping. OnTarget Nutrition really helps me because I can actually add my own recipes and ingredients and it shows a nutrition label. So I can substitute ingredients easily and see foods that are high in fiber before I eat them:)

[Whey Protein]

well i can one thing Fiber normalizes bowel movements, lowers cholesterol, helps control blood sugar, and may reduce your risk of developing colorectal cancer. Fiber also helps you lose weight. :)