More on fiber and oligosaccharides

Our bodies are very complicated.  The more I study it, the more I am completely convinced that only God could have created as marvelous a thing as the human body.  But, I am also realizing that we should treat our body as an ecosystem.  When we think about having more good bacteria than bad bacteria in our colons in order to have a healthy GI system and immune system and feeding these bacteria fiber so they can thrive like we did yesterday in the fiber post, it become clear how much our body is more like an ecosystem than a single organism. 

But, if your family is like my family, increasing fiber can be a complicated task.   The short list of fiber foods are things you may already know: whole grains, beans, vegetables, fruits, seeds and nuts.  So where do you start?  I’ll tell you where I am NOT going to start, and that is whole grains.  I haven’t quite figured out what I think about grains, whole or otherwise, soaking or not soaking, etc etc.  That doesn’t mean that I am not eating grains.  It just means that for now I am not really going to worry about increasing my intake or my kids intake.  I will say that most of the sandwich bread that I buy is whole wheat because it is much easier to find without high fructose corn syrup.  But, so far, what I am making at home is with plain old all purpose white flour. Gasp. I know, I told you I have to think more about all the issues related to flour and grains in general.

Here are the things that my kids eat that are especially high in fiber:

Corn ½ Cup = 5 g fiber

Popcorn ½ Cup = 1.7g fiber

Apples 1 med = 4.4g fiber

Berries (especially raspberries) ½ Cup raspberries = 4g fiber; 1 C cup strawberries= 3.3g fiber

Kiwis 1 large = 2.3g fiber

Peanuts and Cashews 1/4cup 1-3g fiber

Broccoli 1Cup = 5g

Cabbage (if its cole slaw) 1/2Cup slaw = 1g fiber

Brussels Sprouts (only if they are cooked the right way) 10 sprouts have 7g of fiber

Avocado 1= 9g of fiber

Oatmeal ¼ Cup= 4-5g fiber

Raisins ½ Cup – 4g fiber

Carrots 1 = 2g fiber

Here are the high fiber foods that I want to get them to eat, eat more, or try:

Beans and Lentils black beans and kidney beans 1/2Cup= 9.7g fiber lentils = 7.5g fiber

Chia Seeds 1 tablespoon = 5.5g fiber

Basically, the older my kid, the more variety of fiber foods she eats.  So I am going to make sure that we have these foods around a lot and gradually increase the amounts and varieties that we all eat.  My little ones always want to eat what the rest of us are eating.  And yes, I mean the baby too.  Baby loves his broccoli and carrots.   Of course, we aren’t trying berries and nuts just yet. 

But, we learned yesterday that fiber is really necessary to keep the bacteria fed and the bile clean.  So did baby only just now get fiber?  I mean, milk doesn’t have fiber, does it?

Now, I’m going to get a little heavy.  There is this thing, called oligosaccharides.  They are carbohydrates that consist of a relatively small number of monosaccharides, or simple sugars.  So, they are sort of between sugars (monosaccharides) and staches (polysaccharides) and lately we have heard them called prebiotics.  They are made by plants and are not digestible by humans, which makes them technically a fiber.  And they are food for the good bacteria in your large intestine.  There are several types of oligosaccharides: fructo-oligosaccharides (FOS), galactooligosaccharides (GOS), mannan oligosaccharides (MOS), and HMOs.  You can take GOS supplements.  They are quite popular in Japan.  And a study has shown them to decrease influenza infection.  You can get them naturally by eating chicory root, Jerusalem artichokes, onions, leeks, garlic, legumes, wheat, and asparagus.  My understanding right now, is that when you soak or ferment foods before eating them some of the oligosaccharide is used up.  I’m not sure if that decreases the beneficial effects in the intestines or not.

So, back to whether or not baby got any fiber in breastmilk.  The answer is an amazing “YES”.  In fact, breastmilk has Human Milk Oligosaccharides (HMOs).  These are the HMOs listed above.  According to Engfer,Stahl, and Finke et al “ a majority of HMOs reach the large intestine, where they serve as substrates for bacterial metabolism. Therefore, HMOs might be considered the soluble fiber fraction of human milk.”

I think that is enough for today.

Fiber sources links:

http://www.mensfitness.com/nutrition/what-to-eat/10-best-sources-of-fiber?page=11
http://www.wehealnewyork.org/healthinfo/dietaryfiber/fibercontentchart.html
 http://www.uic.edu/orgs/cphp/resources/Fiber/How%20much%20fiber%20are%20you%20getting.pdf
 

References:

Cummings, JH. "The Large Intestine in Nutrition and Disease" (monograph), December 1996, ISBN 2-930151-02-1 

Engfer, Meike, Stahl, Bernd, Finke, Berndt, Sawatzki, Guenther, and Daniel, Hannelore. “Human milk oligosaccharidesare resistant to enzymatic hydrolysis in the upper gastrointestinal tract.” American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 2000; 71(6):1589-1586.

Niness, KR. "Inulin and Oligofructose: What Are They?". Journal of Nutrition 1999;129:1402S-1406S.) 

 

Meyer, Pl Diederick. “Nondigestible Oligosaccharides as Dietary Fiber.” J. of AOAC International May/June 2004; 87(3):718-26. 

Produce & Your Child

  I think as moms, most of us are looking for ways to encourage our children to eat and like their vegetables.  Did you know that babies develop taste buds in the womb and when they are born they have already tasted the foods that mom ate while she was pregnant?  And then if baby is breastfed, the he continues to taste the foods that mom eats?  Then our infants and toddlers watch us eat and want to eat what we are eating.  When I learned this I was just in awe of God and how He created us to fit into our family culture and to like the foods that will be available.

 But what if your kids are older?  Preschool or later, and they have already developed an opinion on what foods they like and dislike?  How can we continue to teach them about fruits and vegetables and encourage them to keep (or start) eating produce for the rest of their lives?

Vegetable stand by comprock on Flickr

One idea is the grocery store. The place we go to purchase our food can also be a great educational tool if we know how to use it. Yes, the grocery store features many different areas where education can come into play. Take for instance the produce section, within this area lies a wealth of information and learning opportunities for your child. 

What can they learn in the produce aisle you may ask? Well, they can learn a lot of things about the world from the produce aisle. They can learn new fruits and vegetables.  Often produce that is grown local and also imported from far away.  They can pick a new fruit or vegetable to try.  They can ask questions such as “Where do Kiwi come from?” and “What is Baby Bok Choi?”  What do these foods taste like and how to we prepare them? Can they be made into drinks, can they be eaten raw and how do you know when it’s ready to eat? What does it taste like? All of those and more can be answered with a visit to your local grocery store.

At Central Market in Shoreline, WA

Sometimes, we can also get our produce from the farmer's market or a CSA (community sponsored agriculture).   These give children an opportunity to meet farmers that grown their food.  They can learn about the seasons and which foods are fresh in each season.  Some CSAs offer tours and children can actually explore the food they eat on the farm.  Or, even better you can grow your own food at home.  The fresher the produce, the more vitamins and minerals it retains.  Which is one of the big health reasons to eat fruits and vegetables.

But learning about where a food comes from is a great way not only to learn about new foods, but to learn about new cultures and a little geography as well. This can also lead to the history of the produce in question and how it was discovered and how people originally ate it and prepared it for meals. This is just good to learn about anyway regardless of the food itself. 

What about learning how to tell if a certain fruit is ready to eat or not or how to know when it’s ripe? This is very important and you would be surprised to learn how many people just don’t know when something is ripe enough to eat. You can teach your child how to tell when a banana is ripe or how to tell when a melon is ready to enjoy by knocking on it. Each fruit is a little different and learning about them is useful information to have. 

On the farm

You can also teach about organic foods at the grocery store or the farm.  Teach about pesticides.  And cleaning produce to remove as much as possible before eating it.  Depending on their age you might be able to teach about "the clean 15" and the "dirty dozen".  You can get the lists here.
 
Once your child knows how to pick certain pieces of produce, let them pick it for you. This gives them a sense of accomplishment and fulfills the need we all have to be useful. Don’t stop there; the next step is having them learn how it tastes and how to prepare it for a meal or by itself as a snack instead of cookies and chips. 

Your best bet is to start with flavors they are already used to such as oranges, apples, grapes and bananas. Teach them how to pick each and prepare them. Have them add bananas to cereal and help them cut apples into wedges for snacks. Break out an apple pie recipe and have them help you make one with fresh apples they helped you pick in the produce section. 

Don’t forget the vegetables.  Corn on the cob is a great vegetable to teach with because it’s interactive and kids can peel away the husk to see what’s inside. If you have a toddler, the produce section is also a great place to teach them about colors and quiz them on identifying various colors. 

Studies have shown a short list of things that influence school age children to eat more produce: if they get to pick it at the grocery store, prepare/cook it at home, grow it in a garden, and see their peers eat.  So grow what you can.  Visit a farm and farmers market.  Learn about how far some foods travel to be at our grocery stores. Get your kids cooking in the kitchen.  Eat your veggies and hopefully your big kids will be good role models for the little ones.