How fibre works

It's my mother who needs this article - her and her prunes!

Soluble fiber consists of pectin, gum, and mucilage. Pectin is found in carrots, apples, beets, cabbage, citrus fruits, and bananas. Gums and mucilage are found in oat bran, sesame seeds, oats, oatmeal, legumes, guar gum, and gum Arabic

Pectin is used to make jam, forming into jell, when water is added to it. Apples and citrus fruits are high in pectin.

Besides helping prevent constipation and hemorrhoids, soluble fiber provides the following benefits.

reduces risk of heart disease
reduces risk of gallstones formation
helps to remove toxic heavy metals and toxins from your colon
helps to prevent appendicitis
regulates movement of sugar into the bloodstream during digestion
helps to prevent fissures
lowers cholesterol
slows absorption of fats in the intestines
and most importantly, help prevent the overgrowth of bad bacteria in your colon.

Good Sources of Fibre
Food Average Portion Size Total Average Fibre (g)
Butter beans 50g dry weight 8.0
Red kidney beans 50g dry weight 7.8
'All-Bran' 30g bowl 7.3
Wholemeal bread 3 slices (100g) 5.8
Mango 1 4.9
Papaya 1 4.7
Wholewheat pasta 50g dry weight 4.2
Blackcurrants 100g 3.6
Prunes, stoned 50g 2.8

Who'd have thought that prunes were so far down the list!