From diet plans to gruelling workouts, finding ways to shed pounds can sometimes be a challenge.
But it doesn’t always have to be difficult. Eating a well-balanced diet is the key to trimming down and living longer.
Fibre has always been a key component of our diets, but it could be even better than we realised.
A study published in the journal, Cell Host & Microbe, found that fibre feeds microbiota which helps improves metabolism and encourages weight loss.
Microbiota is a system of bacteria fungi and yeasts that lives in our digestive systems, these are vital for a healthy gut and helps with our digestions.
The studies found that when our diet lacks fibre, our levels of good bacteria in the gut shrink tenfold, based on research at Georgia State University.
British woman only consume a daily average of 17.2g and men 20.1g – far less than the recommended 30g a day.
Experts have warned that our lifestyle choices and the food options are often to blame for our lack of fibre.
These days junk food is consumed by millions of people but is lacking levels of fibre that keep your gut healthy.
Fibre can only be found in foods that come from plants. Eating a diet rich in whole grains, fruit and vegetables will help ensure you are eating the right amount of fibre every day.
A paper published in the Journal of Obesity last year found that long-term weight problems are only partly determined by genetics and that “low gut microbiome diversity is associated with a higher weight gain over time”.
Helen Bond, a leading nutritionist and dietician, said: “If your diet is very heavily reliant on junk food then it is very difficult to get the 30g of fibre recommended per day.
“Your gut bacteria needs food that is nourishing and we are learning more and more about the importance of gut health in relation to things like immunity, to weight to digestive issues.”
“For people that have digestive issues where absorption [of vitamins and minerals] is a problem then making sure your gut is as healthy as possible goes hand-in-hand with a high fibre diet,” she added.
“There are some people with issues like irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) where a high fibre diet may cause them problems, but generally people should be eating more of it in our diet.”
