6 simple ways to eat more fibre

Skimp on fibre and you could find yourself backed up. This energy source has a plethora of other health benefits, so here's how to incorporate more of it into your diet.

Foods such as whole grains and beans, which are composed largely of complex sugar molecules, require lots of time and energy to digest into the simple sugars your body needs for fuel. They also contain fibre which protects you from heart disease, cancer and digestive problems. Here are a few ways to pump up the fibre in your diet.

Ideally, aim for a whole-grain, unsweetened cereal with at least three grams of fibre a serving.

• Just eating any cereal might be enough, though. A University of California study found that cereal eaters tend to eat more fibre and less fat than non-cereal eaters.

Not just to keep the doctor away, but because apples are a good source of pectin, a soluble fibre that contributes to a feeling of fullness and which is also digested slowly.

• A recent study published in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition found that five grams of pectin was enough to leave people feeling satisfied for up to four hours.

Take 175 millilitres (3/4 cup) of yogurt and mix in 75 grams (1/3 cup) of bran cereal, 15 grams (one tablespoon) of ground flaxseeds and five large, diced strawberries for a whopping amount of fibre.

You might not want to face an entire bowl of bran in the morning. If that's the case, mix it with an equal amount of your usual cereal and you'll barely know it's there.

Try this for your afternoon snack three days a week.

• You'll fill up the empty afternoon space in your stomach while getting about five grams of fibre from each 150 grams (five ounces) of veggies.

Whether it's "whole wheat" or "whole grain", it's important that this is first on the list of ingredients on the label. Why?

• If it says multigrain, seven-grain, nutragrain, cracked wheat, stone-ground wheat, unbromated wheat or enriched wheat, it's not whole wheat, and is thus lacking some of the vitamins and minerals (not to mention fibre) of whole grains.