Why fibre is the nutrient most of us are missing

If I could change one thing about how most households eat, it would not be sugar, or oil, or portion sizes. It would be fibre. It is the least glamorous nutrient in the conversation and by some distance the most under-consumed.

What fibre actually does

Fibre is the part of plant food your body does not break down. That sounds like a shortcoming until you consider what it means in practice: it passes through largely intact, drawing in water, adding bulk, and slowing the pace at which everything else moves.

There are two kinds and both matter. Soluble fibre dissolves into a gel — this is what psyllium husk and chia do so visibly in a glass of water. Insoluble fibre does not dissolve; it adds bulk and supports regularity.

The everyday difference

• Meals feel more satisfying, and satisfaction lasts longer past the meal itself.
• Digestive comfort and regularity improve for most people within one to two weeks.
• Eating slows down naturally, because fibre-rich food takes more chewing.

Closing the gap without a kitchen overhaul

1. 1Leave the skin on. Potatoes, apples, cucumbers — the peel is where a good share of the fibre sits.
2. 2Swap one refined grain a day. White rice to brown, or white roti to whole wheat. One meal, not all three.
3. 3Add a pulse to something you already cook. A handful of chana or masoor into an existing salan changes very little about the dish and a lot about the fibre.
4. 4Keep whole fruit over juice. Juicing removes almost all of it.

“The best dietary change is the one still in place six months from now. That is almost never the dramatic one.”

If food alone is not getting you there — and for a lot of busy households it genuinely is not — a fibre supplement can help close the gap. It is a supplement to the diet, though, not a replacement for the changes above.