Fibremaxxing another crass trend peddled on social media.
Whilst it is true , we should not fall for the protein scam, we consume more than sufficient protein, it is also true, we do not consume sufficient fibre, that does not mean we should go fibremaxxing, though it will probably cause us no harm.
The average person on a varied diet, consumes more than sufficient protein. Protein is not stored, it passes through or is converted to sugars and fats
Whilst the average person is more than sufficient in protein, they are lacking in fibre, and if fibremaxxing is drawing attention to fibre deficiency, then it can be no bad thing, especially if a significant part of the diet is consuming ultra-processed food.
How do we improve our fibre intake?
- avoid ultra-processed foods
- eat 30 plants a week (Five a Day is dated)
- eat the rainbow
Posts with the hashtags #fibremaxxing and #fibermaxxing have been viewed more than 150m times on TikTok (the bellwether of crass stupidity) , with videos of chia seeds being sprinkled on porridge and nutritionists lauding the benefits of red kidney beans and chickpeas are all over people’s feeds.
- Instagram – #fibremaxxing 500+ #fibermaxxing 5000+
Warning: Search on social media #fibremaxxing #fibermaxxing most of what is found is garbage . 90% of nutritional information on social media is wrong.
The NHS recommends adults eat 30g of fibre a day, but 96% in the UK are not hitting that target, not even close. Average daily consumption is around 16.4g, external, with women eating less than men.
- specialty coffee high in polyphenols and fibre
- bean-to-bar craft dark chocolate high in polyphenols and fibre
Fibre was once seen as roughage, of little nutritional value, useful to clean out the system. Fibre is now known to be essential to our gut microbes, an essential part of our diet. The more varied our fibre, the more gut microbes we benefit.
Beware of fake health scams.
M&S has on prominent display high protein bread. Apart from the fact we are not short of protein, this is white supermarket bread laced with additives, including emulsifiers. Buy sourdough bread, real sourdough bread from an artisan bakery, not fake supermarket sourdough bread.
In the second episode of the excellent Channel 4 series What Not To Eat an interesting experiment. An overweight couple looking to improve their health and life expectancy, were each asked to eat a sandwich. The wife after six minutes had devoured her white bread sandwich. The husband was struggling half way through his sourdough sandwich.
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