Nutrition & Recipe Center
Hill Physicians is dedicated to helping you adopt and maintain a healthy and nutritious diet. Whether you’re looking for a wide variety of tasty meals or adopting a new diet due to a recent diagnosis, our recipes promise mealtimes that are enjoyable.
Healthy Recipe index | Heart-healthy Recipes| Diabetes-friendly Recipes
Heart Healthy Eating
Filling, Fiber for Heart Health
Fiber in your diet aids in healthy digestion – this is a well-known fact. But did you know that fiber can also prevent heart disease? It’s true! When the recommended amounts of fiber are present in our diets the process of digestion includes clearing the blood of cholesterol; a key factor in the prevention of high blood pressure and heart disease.
Dietary fiber refers to the parts of plants and grains that are not broken down during digestion. There are two types of fiber, soluble and insoluble. Both are important but each has different health benefits.
Soluble Fiber
Soluble fiber attracts water, dissolves and forms a kind of gel in your digestive system. “Bad” or LDL cholesterol becomes trapped in the gel preventing it from being absorbed in your body. The body’s handling of this fiber also slows down the emptying of the stomach making you feel satisfied longer and, therefore, eating less. The cardiovascular benefits of the processing of soluble fiber include lower blood pressure and reduced C-reactive protein levels.
Soluble fiber can be found in nuts, oatmeal, legumes such as lentils and most fruits and vegetables. Winter produce containing high levels of fiber include beets, apples, oranges and carrots.
Insoluble Fiber
Insoluble fibers add disposable bulk to your diet. With more bulk you feel fuller and are less likely to overeat. Fiber rich foods tend to come from 0 cholesterol plants and contribute to a diet lower in fats and calories. Insoluble fibers do not dissolve in water and go through the GI tract undigested and whole. Since this helps to speed the processing of food in your system, insoluble fiber reduces the symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and diverticulosis. Research is being conducted to review its role in preventing colon cancer.
Insoluble fiber sources include whole grains such as wheat, seeds, nuts, barley, brown rice and most fruits and vegetables.
RDA for Fiber
The Recommended Daily allowance (RDA) is 25-35 grams of total fiber per day. Unfortunately, most Americans only get half of this amount missing out on all of fiber’s benefits. By adding more of the foods mentioned above to your diet you can increase your overall intake of fiber. Remember to increase fiber gradually and allow your body to adjust. It’s also recommended to drink more water when you increase fiber intake to aid in the absorption of water.
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Our healthy Recipe Index has plenty of delicious ways to add more fiber to your diet, including:
Breakfast Quinoa with Walnuts and Honey
Moroccan Vegetable Stew
Vegetarian Paella
Look for the fiber content in the nutrition information section and choose those recipes with at least 5 grams per serving.
Read our In the Garden article on a high-fiber vegetable with other amazing health benefits, often overlooked...
Hill Physicians' Healthy Recipes Index is packed full of delicious and nutritious recipes using healthy ingredients. Bookmark our Recipe Index for Heart-healthy recipes...
In the Garden
High in fiber, antioxidants, anti-inflammatory compounds and essential nutrients beets should be considered a “superfood.” Easy to grow and prepare there are many reasons to have beets in your garden. Read our article "Beets, the Secret Superfood" here...
Hill Physicians has many delicious and healthy recipes using your favorite ingredients. Access our Recipe Index here...
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