With the current trends for both protein and fibremaxxing taking over, it can be difficult to understand which one is more important.<\/p>\n
Should we focus on eating enough protein each day and hitting our targets, or should fibre be the priority for gut health and well-being?<\/p>\n
To answer these questions, we spoke to two dietitians, who shared their expert advice and explained how protein and fibre can complement each other.<\/p>\n
\u201cBoth are important,\u201d explains British women\u2019s health dietitian, performance nutritionist and author Dr Linia Patel.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt comes back to this idea that nutrition is never about nutrients in isolation.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe see from evidence when we look at whether it\u2019s longevity data or just weight management data \u2013 it\u2019s about dietary pattern and it\u2019s about the balance.\u201d<\/p>\n
What is protein?<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I think about protein, I\u2019m going to talk about the biochemistry first,\u201d Dr Patel says.<\/p>\n
\u201cProtein is a bit like Lego.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou basically have these Lego pieces which are amino acids that are put together to form a beautiful design.<\/p>\n
\u201cWithin those amino acids, some are non-essential and some are essential.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis brings me back to the idea that protein is important because there\u2019s essential amino acids that we can\u2019t make from our body and we must get from our diet \u2013 protein is one of these multitasking nutrients.\u201d<\/p>\n
She explains how it\u2019s involved in everything from protecting muscle mass \u2013 including during weight management \u2013 to providing building blocks for immune cells and neurotransmitters, which carry messages between nerve cells.<\/p>\n
How much protein should be consumed in a day?<\/p>\n
British food company Field Doctor science head and dietitian Laura Tilt explains that the recommended amount of protein intake is around 0.75g per kilogramme of body weight per day.<\/p>\n
\u201cMost people are eating over that amount \u2013 around 1.5g per kilo of body weight \u2013 but it will differ from person to person.\u201d<\/p>\n
With varying information and figures about protein consumption often found online, Dr Patel says it is understandable that people may feel confused.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are various conversations happening in the media that can get confusing and the amount is not black and white,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
She adds that it\u2019s not just about eating one big portion of protein, but spreading the intake throughout the day.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s about finding that sweet spot, and that sweet spot exists even for protein intake.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not about overdoing it, you want to find the balance so that you are still able to bring in other key nutrients,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
What is fibre?<\/p>\n
Dr Patel explains: \u201cFibre is a type of carbohydrate. It sits in the overall macronutrient of carbohydrate and it\u2019s found in plant-based foods.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s basically a nutrient that us as humans cannot fully digest.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen we eat fibre, we don\u2019t really just eat fibre for ourselves; we eat it for our gut microbiome, and in our gut microbiome are bacteria, viruses and fungi.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe bacteria in our microbiome particularly love fibres \u2013 it\u2019s like giving them their favourite thing.\u201d<\/p>\n
She compares the body to a hotel containing numerous guests.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s this relationship between us and our guests.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf we give them the food they really like, they will digest the fibre and produce what we call short-chain fatty acids.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese then do a whole host of things for our hotel, such as keep it clean, reduce inflammation and help our mood.<\/p>\n
\u201cFibre is really powerful because it indirectly helps us be healthier in the long run.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tilt adds: \u201cIt helps to feed the gut bacteria in our large intestine.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt plays a role in satiety, so it helps us feel full after eating and it\u2019s a short-term day-to-day thing to help prevent constipation because it helps bulk out and soften our stools.<\/p>\n
\u201cLonger term, it can help to reduce our risk of type two diabetes, heart disease and bowel cancer.\u201d<\/p>\n
How much fibre do we need?<\/p>\n
\u201cThe recommendation for fibre intake is 30g a day,\u201d Dr Patel says.<\/p>\n
\u201cAgain, splitting that fibre up is recommended, otherwise it will impact your digestive health.\u201d<\/p>\n
However, many people are getting well below 30g.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a massive gap we need to fill.<\/p>\n
\u201cHowever, you also need to remember that with fibre, it\u2019s slow and steady, it\u2019s not about sprinting.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you\u2019ve not been eating a lot of fibre, you need to make sure that you\u2019re increasing it slowly so that your digestive system and gut bacteria can adjust.\u201d<\/p>\n
She adds: \u201cMake sure you\u2019re hydrated too.\u201d<\/p>\n
What foods contain fibre?<\/p>\n
Fibre is primarily in pulses and legumes, wholegrains, nuts, seeds, fruit and vegetables.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe big dent is in your wholegrains, and your lentils and pulses.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you want to bridge the gap and get foods with both protein and fibres, then the big thing is beans and legumes.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re inexpensive, they contain per 100g, about eight or nine grammes of protein and about seven to eight grammes of fibre,\u201d says Dr Patel.<\/p>\n
\u201cBlending some white beans into a pasta sauce or adding some lentils into a curry or bolognese \u2013 those small changes actually help bridge the gap between protein and fibre.\u201d \u2013 By Sara Keenan\/PA Media\/dpa<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"With the current trends for both protein and fibremaxxing taking over, it can be difficult to understand which…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":656746,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[166,14547,14546,163,85,46,4718,543,5198],"class_list":["post-656745","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nutrition","tag-diet","tag-fibre","tag-gut-health","tag-health","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-microbiome","tag-nutrition","tag-protein"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/656745","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=656745"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/656745\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/656746"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=656745"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=656745"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=656745"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}