High Fibre Diet and Modified Fibre Diet for Adults

High Fibre Diet and Modified Fibre Diet for Adults

What is fibre and how does it work?

Fibre is the part of your food that your body cannot digest. Fibre adds bulk to your stools and absorbs water.  This makes your stools soft and easier to pass, helping you to form healthy, regular bowel habits.

Different types of fibre:

There are two types of fibre found in our diet called insoluble fibre and soluble fibre.

Insoluble fibre moves through your digestive system quickly and can help promote soft, bulky stools.  Good sources include wholegrain foods, wholewheat flour, nuts, flaxseeds, vegetables (skin and seeds), bran and fruits with edible seeds.

Soluble fibre dissolves in water to form a gel-like material which slows digestion making you feel fuller for longer. Good sources include oats, rye, peas, beans, lentils, fruit (such as bananas) and some vegetables.

Having a variety of both types of fibre gives the greatest health benefit.

An example of two different types of fibre in the same food:

> Soluble fibre can be found in the fleshy part of the tomato. This will add bulk to stools

> Insoluble fibre can be found in the skin and seeds of the tomato.

A high fibre diet can help with:

• Constipation
• Haemorrhoids
• Irritable bowel syndrome
• Diverticular disease (small pouches in your colon)
• Reducing the risk of colon cancer
• Reducing blood pressure and blood cholesterol (mainly soluble fibre)
• Reduce risk of type 2 diabetes

Fibre can also help with:

• Slowing down the digestion of sugar and starch to help control your blood sugars better in diabetes.
• Losing weight, as high fibre foods are generally low in calories compared to the same amount of a low fibre food.  It also helps to keep you feeling fuller for longer making you less likely to snack.

Drink plenty of fluids

For the fibre to work effectively, you need to be drinking enough fluids throughout the day. This fluid will be absorbed into your stools helping them to become soft and easy to pass.

If you have loose, watery stools, adding more fibre, especially insoluble fibre, to your diet may also help to solidify the stools by adding bulk.

• Aim to drink 6-8 cups of fluid per day.
• This is around one and a half to two litres of fluid per day (three to four pints).

Increase your fibre gradually

Increasing your fibre intake suddenly can cause wind, bloating and stomach upset. If you increase your fibre intake gradually, you can reduce these symptoms. After a few weeks, the wind and bloating will settle down.  Making sure you are drinking plenty of fluids will also help to reduce these symptoms.

How much fibre should I have?

For healthy adults it is recommended that you have 30g of fibre per day, although most people do not have enough. Counting up every gram is not necessary but it would be helpful to look at food labelling to make healthier choices.

Food labelling

Most food labels give the amount of fibre per serving or per 100g. This can be useful to make comparisons with similar products to help you pick the higher fibre option.

For a food to claim that it is a “source” of fibre, there should be more than 3g of fibre per 100g or per portion size.

Example:

Bran flakes
	Per 100g	Per 30g serving
Fibre	17g	5.1g

 How to eat more fibre?

Good sources of fibre are products that are often labelled as “wholemeal” or “wholegrain”.

• Bread – wholemeal, granary or high fibre white alternatives.

• Bread based products –wholemeal scones, muffins, malt loaf and fruit loaf.  When baking, substitute wholegrain flour for half or all of the white flour.

• Breakfast Cereals — wheat biscuits, bran, bran flakes, fruit and fibre, malties, wheats, chocolate wheat hoops,  porridge oats, cereal and muesli bars. Look for high fibre on the pack.

• Biscuits – Oat biscuits, digestives, garibaldi, flapjacks, oatcakes, crispbreads, and other oat or wholemeal biscuits.

• Brown rice and wholewheat pasta, chapattis made with medium or brown flour, wholemeal pitta and naan bread.

• Fruit and vegetables – aim to eat at least 5 (80g) servings a day. Add to sauces, stews or curries too.

• Dried fruits – apricots, dates, prunes, sultanas and raisins (about 1 tablespoon).

• Pulse vegetables – peas, beans and lentils. Try adding to stews, curries and salads.

• Potatoes – eat with the skins. Such as backed potatoes or new potatoes.

• Nuts – high in fibre but avoid excessive amounts as nuts can be high in fat and some are salted.

Do not give nuts to children under 5 years, due to the risk of choking.

 High fibre meal ideas

Breakfast

• Wheat–based or bran based cereal with dried fruit
• Wholemeal toast, bagel, English muffin
• Yogurt and fruit – fresh, stewed, dried or tinned in natural juice

Main meal

• Jacket potato with tuna and sweetcorn
• Jacket potato with reduced-salt baked beans
• Chilli con carne with kidney beans and brown rice
• Bolognese (add vegetables) with wholewheat spaghetti
• Roast beef/pork/lamb  with peas, broccoli, carrots and new potatoes (boiled in their skins)
• Grilled or baked fish with sweetcorn, salad and      potato wedges
• Mixed vegetable tomato-based curry with wholegrain rice
• Wholemeal roll/ pitta bread filled with lean meat and salad

Desserts

• Fruit – fresh, stewed, dried, or tinned in natural juice
• Fruit pie or crumble made with wholemeal flour
• Wholemeal bread and butter pudding with raisins

Light meals

• Baked beans on wholemeal toast
• Lentil & vegetable soup with wholemeal roll
• Wholemeal wrap with lean meat and vegetables

Snacks

• Fruit, dried fruit and nuts, wholemeal scones, fruit cake, cereal bars, flapjacks and oatcakes, fruit smoothie

Modified high fibre diet

If you require a modified high fibre diet for a special  medical condition such as diverticular disease or irritable bowel syndrome, it is important that you pay attention to the fibre content of your diet as small changes can

improve your symptoms.

Avoiding some of the following foods still provides the bulk from the fibre with none of the possible

irritants.  This is a general guideline and you may need to experiment to find out which foods you can tolerate.  If a food on the following list (page 9) does not cause you irritation there is no need to avoid it but only exclude one irritant at a time.

Take as a minimum:

• 3 portions of high fibre cereal foods e.g. 2 slices of wholemeal bread and a portion of wholegrain breakfast cereal.

• 5 portions of fruit and vegetables – except those on list opposite that may need to be avoided.

• At least 6-8 cups of fluid per day.

High residue foods (undigested foods) that may need to be avoided

• Granary, multigrain or seeded bread and crispbreads with seeds.

• Muesli type cereals and cereals containing nuts, seeds or dried fruit.

• Dried fruit.

• Fruit and vegetables with skins or pips

for example kiwi, grapes, strawberries, tomatoes, peas, sweetcorn and beans.

• Nuts and seeds.

• Raw vegetables and salads.

• Stalks of vegetables.

• Jam, marmalade and yogurt with skins, peel or pips.

• Crunchy peanut butter.

• Confectionery containing dried fruit and nutse.g. toffee and chocolates.

• Cold or reheated pasta, rice and potato.  These are harder to digest than freshly cooked pasta, rice and potato.

If you find you have to avoid other foods not listed, please contact your Dietitian for further advice

Modified high fibre meal ideas

Breakfast

• Toasted wholemeal bread
• Wholegrain breakfast cereal with banana
• Porridge

Main meals

• Chicken curry with brown rice
• Bolognese (add vegetables) with freshly cooked wholemeal spaghetti
• Soya mince bolognese with spaghetti as above
• Vegetarian sausages with broccoli florets, carrots and mashed potatoes
• Roast beef, pork or lamb with leeks, parsnips and roast potatoes

Desserts

• Fruit salad
• Fruit pie or crumble made with wholemeal flour
• Stewed apple

Snack meals

• Wholemeal sandwiches – can include modified high fibre fillings such as banana, smooth peanut butter or houmous
• Homemade lentil soup – eat with wholemeal bread or roll.

Snacks

• Unseeded wholegrain crispbreads
• Digestive biscuits
• Flapjack or oat biscuits
• Wholemeal scones
• Peeled fruit

Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust

Covering the Alexandra Hospital, Redditch, Worcestershire Royal Hospital and Kidderminster Hospital

Tel: 01905 760 136

Email: [email protected]

Given out by Registered Dietitian:

Name: ……………………………………………

Produced by:

 Nutrition & Dietetic Department

Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust

If your symptoms or condition worsens, or if you are concerned about anything, please call your GP, 111, or 999.

Patient Experience

We know that being admitted to hospital can be a difficult and unsettling time for you and your loved ones. If you have any questions or concerns, please do speak with a member of staff on the ward or in the relevant department who will do their best to answer your questions and reassure you. 

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If you have any concerns or questions about your care, we advise you to talk with the nurse in charge or the department manager in the first instance as they are best placed to answer any questions or resolve concerns quickly. If the relevant member of staff is unable to help resolve your concern, you can contact the PALS Team. We offer informal help, advice or support about any aspect of hospital services & experiences.

Our PALS team will liaise with the various departments in our hospitals on your behalf, if you feel unable to do so, to resolve your problems and where appropriate refer to outside help.

If you are still unhappy you can contact the Complaints Department, who can investigate your concerns. You can make a complaint orally, electronically or in writing and we can advise and guide you through the complaints procedure.

How to contact PALS:

Telephone Patient Services: 0300 123 1732 or via email at: [email protected]

Opening times:

The PALS telephone lines are open Monday to Friday from 8.30am to 4.00pm. Please be aware that you may need to leave a voicemail message, but we aim to return your call within one working day.

If you are unable to understand this leaflet, please communicate with a member of staff.

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