Dietary Fibre consists of naturally occurring plant materials that your body cannot digest. Examples include fibre naturally found in whole grain breads and cereals, beans, lentils, fruits and vegetables.

As fibre is a vital part of one’s diet, and eating local produce is good for your community and the environment, right now there are many reasons to eat fruits and vegetables that are in-season in BC to help you increase the amount of fibre in your diet every day!

In-season produce for BC in July:

Apricots, Beets, Blueberries, Broccoli, Cabbage, Carrots, Celery, Cherries, Kale, Lettuce, Peas, Peppers, Potatoes, Raspberries, Spinach, Strawberries, Squash, Chard, Tomatoes, Chives, Cilantro, Cucumbers (see the link at the end to find out more).

What are the health benefits?

1- Bowel regularity

2- Control of blood cholesterol

3- Control of blood sugar levels.

Fibre can be found on their own or added to foods. Examples include oat B-glucan, psyllium.

Fibre is linked with reducing the risk of heart disease, diabetes, obesity and certain types of cancer.

What else does it do?… High fibre diets provide bulk, make you feel fuller for longer, which is why people who have high fibre diets tend to have lower body weights (many businesses have been taking advantage of this recently (for example, PGX).

Fibre can be further divided into those that are soluble and those that are insoluble (interestingly, experts now wish to replace these terms with “viscosity” and “fermentality”).

Soluble fibres -found in foods such as oat bran, psyllium, legumes, vegetables barley and certain types of fruits. -These reduce blood cholesterol levels and control blood sugar levels.

Monday interesting health fact: Do you notice how oats and barley form a “sticky and gummy” texture when they are cooked? This “stickiness” is referred to as viscosity and experts believe this is what gives these fibres special health benefits (such as reducing cholesterol)!

Fermentability = digestion of soluble fibre by “friendly” bacteria in our intestines which is also important for promoting health

Insoluble fibres, such as those found in wheat bran, corn bran, flax seeds, and some vegetables and fruit (especially the skins), passes through your digestive system largely unchanged (AKA= roughage and bulk!)

Q: How should you increase your fibre intake?

A: Gradually, and drink lots of fluids. Most foods contain a mix of fibres, so make sure you choose a variety of fibre-rich choices from the different food groups to reach your target. This way you can reap the benefits from all types of fibres.

Q: What exactly is a high fibre food?

A: A high fibre food contains 5 or more grams of fibre per serving!

Click here for more useful pointers from the Dietitians of Canada  to help you reach your goal of 38 grams for men and 25 grams for women of fibre each day.

Click here for more of in-season BC produce for July and beyond!

Click here to listen to our podcast (scroll forward to approximately 1/3 way through the news cast)

With the sun out and people out to play sun exposure and vitamin D intake as it relates to sun cancer is a perfect topic.

The main messages covered in this segment are listed below:

-Vitamin D is a fat soluble vitamin that helps with bone health, immune system and prevents types of cancer.

-You can consume it through diet (mainly animal sources), or it is produced in your skin through sun exposure (5-15 minutes for light skin and 30+ minutes for darker skinned individuals)

-Some rates of cancer is reduced with sun exposure but too much sun can develop skin cancer so a balance is needed.

-You can overdose on Vit D supplements, but not from sun exposure.

To listen to the clip, click here. Next week we’re covering fibre and fun fruits.

Happy Canada Day long weekend!

Check out last week’s segment on prostate cancer in light of national Men’s Health Week.

To sum last week’s segment:

1. Prostate cancer is the most common cancer for men.

2. A recent study shows a potential link between increasing serum selenium levels and decreasing prostate cancer risk.

3. Men over the age of 40 should discuss the appropriate prostate cancer screening plan with their physician. Higher risk individuals should begin screening earlier (those with a family history of prostate cancer, and/or those who are of African American descent).

4. Prostate cancer is slow to mature, and early detection increases one’s survival.

5. A healthy diet including legumes and other foods rich in isoflavones has shown promise in decreasing men’s risk of prostate cancer.

Don’t forget to tune in next week for a special segment on Vitamin D and bone health, on Citr 101.9FM, Monday’s between 5 and 5:30! Check out our podcast here!