Elise Penning says gut health is one of the hottest topics in health. “As a dietitian, I get asked all the time: ‘How can I improve my gut health?’” she says.
The answer? “As with anything nutrition-related, there is a lot of conflicting and complicated information out there. But it can actually be boiled down to something super-simple. If there is one thing you can do to improve your gut health it would be increase your fibre intake.”
Right now, most New Zealanders don’t eat enough fibre. It’s estimated that on average we get 17 to 22 grams of fibre per day; current recommendations are for a minimum of 25 to 30 grams per day.
“There’s thought to be a dose response to higher amounts of dietary fibre intakes,” Elise says. That means the more fibre we have in our diets, the more health benefits we get.
Those benefits are wide-ranging. Fibre is essential not just for
