More on fiber

I eat a lot more fiber now.  When my diet consisted primarily of refined foods (whole sleeves of Ritz crackers!  a box of Wheat-Thins in a sitting!  A pint of Ben & Jerry's Marsha Marsha Marshmallow for a snack!) I didn't consume the 25-30 grams of fiber recommended per day.  Not even close.  Now, I am sure I do . . . but I won't offer the proof.  (There are some things I won't discuss in public.  Let's just say that I am very impressed by my regularity and productivity.)

Eating foods higher in fiber keeps my blood sugar stable and hunger pangs at bay.  What kinds of foods can you eat to increase your fiber-intake?  Check out this article with its chart at the bottom.    And also?  Eating enough fiber may also prevent you from developing Diverticulitis, which is a disease that almost one-third of Americans over age 50 have. 

Some manufacturers are adding fiber to their products.  One such product is FiberGourmet Light Pasta.  I recently received a sample of the Classic Fettucine to review.  Last night I boiled it and added some Trader Joe's Alfredo Sauce.  I'm not a huge fan of noodles myself, but my 14-year old boys love pasta of all kinds.  I figured they would be the perfect reviewers for this.

I ate a little bowl, though, and have to say that it tasted just like regular white noodles to me.  One of my sons ate two huge servings and reported that the pasta tasted really good.  The other 14-year old said that it tasted like "flour" . . . but you should know that he was an oddly refined palate for someone who like eating Chef Boyardee Ravioli out of a can.  He can taste any little difference in foods--he catches me when I try to slip something healthy into his normal food.  (Like one time I added a little whole-wheat flour to my homemade pancake recipe and he noticed, though no one else did.) 

This FiberGourmet pasta is amazing nutritionally . . . one 2 ounce serving has 130 calories, 1 gram of fat, 18 grams of dietary fiber and 2 grams of sugar.  EIGHTEEN GRAMS of fiber!  In one serving!  (It has 2 Weight Watchers points.)

So, if you like pasta and rue the day you realized that eating huge bowls of it was a bad idea for your blood sugar, you might want to check out this product.

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I received no compensation for this review, other than the free sample of pasta.   Thanks, nice people at FiberGourmet!

Comments

[Kimberly VanderHorst]

I made the switch to whole grain pasta, but it doesn't have -that- much fibre! Wow! Hope they start selling that up here soon!

[Lena R./ Asiajadamommy]

Hi Mel,
I am really in love with the food reviews that you have been doing lately. I know you randomly get these items to try so you have no idea when you're going to post them, which means sometimes I miss them. Is there anyway that you can create a "Food Reviews" link so that we can go directly to these posts? Thanks.

[AndreAnna]

Ooooh, goodie! Gonna go buy some! Thanks for doing these reviews.

[b]

Have you read "YOU- The Owners Manual" yet? It's wonderful and has some recipes high in fiber in the back.

Regarding exercise: Do you interval train at all? How did you begin? Since I just had the baby I've been sticking to light walking and yoga. I'm afraid to add anything high impact only 3.5 weeks out.

[LoriB]

I am wondering if I am calculating correctly. It costs over $4 for 10 ounces? I realize that is a lot of fiber, but that seems a little expensive. However, it does sound like a great product.

[MJ]

We use Dreamfields pasta in our house. It states that it has fewer digestible carbs and it tastes like regular pasta to my family.

[Ari Holzer]

Lori,

You're quite right that our pasta is still more expensive than standard, commodity pasta. However, it's actually quite a bargain if you compare us to other fiber products on the market. A single 10-oz bag of our pasta contains 90 grams of fiber (18g per serving x 5 servings). If you wanted to purchase that much fiber in the form of (for example) Metamucil, it would cost you a whopping $36.00!

Plus, we even throw in some pasta. :-)

[coraspartan]

Thanks for the recent product reviews. I really enjoy them and I think they will help me when I grocery shop. I have been trying to switch our pasta over to whole grain, but my family didn't like how the whole wheat pasta tasted. If I see this at my grocery store, I will try it!