10 TIPS FOR THE INCREASING FIBER IN YOUR DIET

1. Start slowly, add a little each day and build up to the recommended level. Simultaneously, add more water to your diet.

2. Eat vegetables and fruit raw whenever possible. Boiling them too long, for example, can cause up to one-half of the fiber to be lost in the water. Steam or stir-fry them if you have to cook.

3. Pureeing doesn't destroy fiber, but juice does not have the fiber of the whole fruit if the pulp has been strained away.

4. Always start your day with a bowl of high fiber cereal one that has five or more grams per serving.

5. Put fresh fruit on top of your high fiber cereal to add another 1g or 2g of fiber.

6. Buy and eat only whole grains. The operative word is "whole." Look for it on the ingredient panel. Wheat bread doesn't mean whole-wheat bread. On average, a slice of whole-wheat bread has 2g to 3g of fiber. Choose whole-wheat pasta instead of white, etc.

7. Add beans to salads, soups and stews.

8. Add bran cereal to muffins, breads and casseroles. Substitute oat bran for one-third of the all-purpose flour in baking.

9. When you eat out, ask for fresh fruit instead of dessert.

10. Have fruit or fresh vegetables for between-meal snacks.

Aduki and fava beans are both very high in fiber, low in calories and are good sources of the mineral magnesium. Did you know that whole wheat pasta has up to 6 grams a fiber a serving whereas regular usually doesn't have any? Did you know that raspberries have the highest fiber contains 5g fiber, more than brown rice, and more than a cup of most cold cereals.

                                                                             

SPECIAL METHOD OF COOKING

Solar Cooker

It is similar to what we use in the kitchen to cook food. Solar cooker works only on Solar energy, it emits no smoke, no soot spoils the cooking utensils. It keeps the surroundings clean. Above all, it conserves the precious energy resources of the country and saves us money.

Advantages of Solar Cooker

The Solar Cooker has a number of advantages over the traditional cooking devices.

1. It cooks up to four items at a time.

2. It preserves the nutrition value of the food because the cooking is done at low temperature.

3. It does not require constant attention.

4. It is safe and does not burn.

5. Saves fuel.

6. Keeps food hot for a long time.

Disadvantages of Solar Cooker

1. It needs the sun and will not give results on a cloudy day.

2. Only simmering method is adopted.

Microwave Cooking

Microwave cooking, which was first recognized as valuable for cooking food in 1947, is becoming more and more popular because it is a convenient and very quick method of cooking food. Microwaves do not require any medium for transfer of heat in cooking. They are generated by an electric  instrument called magnetron.

Food, for cooking in a microwave oven, should be kept in containers that transmit the microwaves and should not absorb or reflect them. This is achieved by using paper containers, such as paper plates or cups, or utensils made of plastic, glass or chinaware, which do not contain metallic substances.

Advantages of Microwave Cooking

The most important advantage of microwave cooking is the speed with which cooking may be accomplished resulting in a considerable saving of time in cooking. Microwave heating also saves time in heating  refrigerated or frozen foods; the latter can be defrosted in minutes instead of hours. Another advantage of this method of cooking is that only the food is heated during cooking. The oven does not get heated and even the utensils do not become hot, except when the cooking period is relatively long and some heat is conducted from the food to the container. The flavor and texture of prepared food do not change when reheated by microwaves. Electrical energy required for microwave cooking is less than that  required by the traditional method.

Limitations of Microwave Cooking

Due to the short period of time of cooking, the food does not become brown on the surface as many foods do when they are roasted or baked in a conventional oven. Baked products without a brown surface do not have appeal. Another disadvantage of microwave cooking is that it cannot be employed for simmering or stewing for tenderizing foods. Also, the short cooking time may not give a chance for the blending of various flavors to develop as in the conventional methods of cooking.                

 

Hope you liked this blog!

 This blog is written by Dr. Bimal Chhajer (India's best heart doctor)