Foods High in Fiber - Top Choices

If you care about your health, don't forget that you should be working plenty of foods high in fiber into your diet. Fiber-rich foods are extremely healthy, and can actually lower the risk of a wide variety of cancers. As we know, these days many people are eating fast-food oriented diets with too much fat, and not enough nutrition. These foods also tend often contain very little fiber.

There are five main categories of foods that will assure that you are getting enough fiber if you start eating them regularly. Most of these foods are very common, and are readily available at your local grocery store. A couple of the foods will require a quick trip to your local health food store. However, if you need more fiber in your diet, some of these lesser know "fiber-superstars" are a very good bet.

Easy things are always good, and there are, thankfully, some very easy ways to instantly get more fiber in your diet. Spices are the first fiber-rich food on the list. Most commonly used spices are actually very high in fiber and have the exceptional added benefit of being high in anti-oxidants, and even cancer fighting chemicals.

Take for example, the spice turmeric. Turmeric, which is a common ingredient in Indian food, has been shown to be a defense again most forms of cancer. Turmeric, along with garlic and broccoli are three of the most important foods you can consume to fight off cancer. Turmeric, like many other spices, is also loaded down with fiber. Other spices that are high in fiber include cinnamon, cayenne pepper, black pepper, chili pepper, oregano, rosemary, basil, sage, fennel, curry, cloves and thyme. All of these spices have additional health benefits, which make them an obvious choice for best fiber list.

Try slowly incorporating more of these spices into your food slowly overtime. For example, most people like cinnamon, so try adding it to your morning cereal or oatmeal or try adding it to hot chocolate. Considering that spices contain lots of anti-oxidants and are low in calories, they make a great addition to any diet.

Any fruit you add to your diet will help you get more fiber (however, keep in mind some fruits are better than others.) One serious standout is the often-overlooked raspberry. Raspberries are loaded down with fiber. In fact a single cup of raspberries can give you about 30 percent of your calories for the day.

There is a lot of chatter about how great blueberries are for you and it this definitely true. Being healthy is in part; about balance and balance is part of why blueberries join raspberries on the good fiber foods list. Blueberries are not as high in fiber as raspberries and some other fruits, but their overall impact upon health makes them a clear winner. Blueberries are great for brain health and are very high in anti-oxidants.

The simple truth is that the lowly bean is a definite winner where fiber is concerned. Beans, along with some grains, are a must when discussing how to get more fiber in one's diet. Lentils, black beans, barley, pinto beans, garbanzo beans and lima beans are all high in fiber, trace minerals and vitamin B. Try making a chili once a week as an easy way to get more beans into your diet.

When thinking about fiber, many people often overlook green leafy vegetables, but they are most definitely a winner. A quick way to overall better health would be to incorporate one or more of these nutritional superstars into your diet everyday. Turnip greens, Brussels sprouts, Swiss chard, spinach, collard greens and mustard greens are each an amazing food in their own right.

An entire article could easily be dedicated to each one of these leafy greens. Brussels sprouts, for example, are loaded with anti-cancer chemicals. All of these green leafy vegetables are high in fiber and full of nutrition. Try eating a couple of salads each week featuring these six leafy green vegetables.

Cacao power is not a household word yet, but it probably will be very soon. Cacao is such an amazing food that it almost seems too good to be true. The Cacao bean is where everyone's favorite treat chocolate comes from. In its pure state, cacao is a pretty amazing food. Various brands of cacao have different nutritional spreads, but in general, you can expect a mere one hundred calories of cacao to deliver 7-11 grams of fiber, 5 grams of protein and up to 35% of your daily need of vitamin C. But it gets better, raw cacao simply blows every other food away when it comes to anti-oxidant capability.