An NHS doctor has shared a breakfast that is not only good for your gut – and overall health – but one that also contains chocolate. Adressing his 5.3 million followers, Dr Karan Raj stressed that getting fibre is key and it’s not as hard as people think.
You should aim to get 30g per day, Dr Raj says, noting that you can do so by combining 50g of oats, 80g of raspberries and 20g of over 70 per cent dark chocolate – which could make for a pretty good breakfast. “Across these three things, you’ve got over 10g of fibre,” the GP says.
“You can also combine 100g of brown of white rice, 100g red lentils and 50g of frozen peas. When you combine these three things, as base ingredients as part of a dish, you’ve got over 10g of fibre.”
If you do not have time to do these or you want a quick snack, the expert suggests eating 30g of mixed nuts. You can include the likes of almonds, pistachios and pumpkin seeds.
In addition to nuts, try having a kiwi or apple as all of this will provide you with over 10g of fibre. He is not the only doctor to advocate for such a diet with the late Dr Michael Mosley, who created the Fast 800 diet, explaining why having a breakfast high in fibre is so important.
“Diets high in fibre help you stay full and feed the good bacteria in your gut for an improved mood. There are two type of dietary fibre, soluble and insoluble – yet both have great benefits”, he previously said.
“Soluble fibre aids digestion and helps to reduce blood sugar levels, which can assist in reducing the risk of insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes. Insoluble fibre also helps to reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes and promotes bowel regularity by adding water to stools, preventing constipation.”
“The Fast 800 is a diet that follows the principles of the Mediterranean diet, a relatively high fat, low-ish carb, high fibre way of eating, with an abundance of fresh fruit and vegetables, oily fish and olive oil and has a low glycaemic index, meaning it keeps blood sugar levels stable,” he told the Express.
Dr Raj said that if you’re struggling with fibre in your diet, there is a simple fix. He suggests: “The easiest way to regularly hit 30g of fibre a day is to get your fix from a range of foods and not from one source.
“A fibre cheat code to help you towards your daily goal is to add things like nuts and seeds to your daily diet – especially things like chia seeds.”
He explains this is because one tablespoon of chia seeds has up to 5g of fibre. “So if you added two tablespoons of chia seeds to your oats, your smoothies and yogurts, you’re getting 10g fibre which is almost 30 per cent of your daily intake”, he explains.
So what will you be having for breakfast? Let us know in the comments – and share your ideas with others too.