Warburtons Fibre Campaign

Spicy Bean Burgers

With nine in ten women in the UK failing to meet the guideline daily amount (GDA) of fibre - which is 18-24g per day – Warburtons is encouraging families to eat more fibre (as kids need fibre too - between the ages of 5 and 10 they should be consuming 15g of fibre a day).

To help spread the message of the importance of fibre in the family diet, Warburtons asked me to keep a family fibre diary, which they then had analysed by leading nutritionist Fiona Hunter. 

Along with the analysis, they provided recipe suggestions and some tips for adding more fibre to my diet (if  needed) from Dr Hilary Jones. 

I was pretty shocked by my lack of fibre. I consider myself pretty good at eating a well balanced diet, but it seems I had missed out this important part of my nutritional needs.

This is what Fiona discovered about Paige and I.

Jo - your average intake of fibre is 11g a day. The Guideline Daily Amount (GDA) of fibre is 24g a day so you’re eating around half of what you should be. There are several quick and easy ways that you could increase your fibre intake.  The first would be to have more fruit and vegetables. For lunch you could have something like baked beans on toast (half a can of beans on 2 slices of toast would provide 50% of your GDA) or a bowl of lentil or vegetable soup with a wholemeal roll.

Paige Paiges fibre intake is 8g a day also shy of what we should aim for. If she is not keen on wholemeal bread she could try Warburtons Half and Half Toastie - 1 slice provides 1.9g fibre. Snacks like baked beans or hummus on toast provide fibre as well as fruit and vegetables. Other food rich in fibre include beans, pulses and wholegrain cereal like brown rice and wholemeal pasta.

Ouch I cannot believe the results this was over three days and not a great three days fibre wise. We do eat wholemeal bread, Paige eats a great deal of baked beans on toast for breakfast.

However we are failing to meet the required amount for health so we need to get our act together.

Dr Hilary's tips for Paige and I are

Increase your fibre slowly

Your body needs to adjust to a change in fibre intake. Add no more than 5g per day until you reach your GDA of 24g for an adult.

Drink more water

When you increase the amount of fibre in your diet, it’s important to increase the amount of water you drink too.

Eat the whole fruit & vegetable

The skin of fruit and veg contains fibre, so try to eat it (e.g. jacket potato skins) – and aim to eat whole fruits rather than juices or smoothies.

Aim for 3 portions a day

It’s important to spread your fibre intake throughout the day, so aim to reach your GDA over three meals .

Kids should eat fibre too

The GDA for children is less than for adults. Children aged 5-10 should consume about 15g per day. Fibre should be introduced to under 5s gradually, through fresh fruit, veg and whole grains.

Warburtons sent me some recipes and products designed to help me top up our fibre and we have been enjoying the breads immensely.

Paiges fave at the moment is the Chicken and Sweetcorn sandwich

2 Slices of Warburton Half and Half Toastie

1tsp polyunstaurated margerine

50g skinless chicken

1 tbsp half fat mayonnaise

1 tbsp of canned sweetcorn.

I am certainly gradually increasing my fibre and hopefully for my family too.

Further recipes here http://given-to-distracting-others.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/warburtons-fibre-recipes.html

You can also take the fibre test and see how you and your family are doing, hopefully better than me.

http://www.warburtons.co.uk/health/fibre/