Gut Health Scientist and Chef Shares 4 Tasty, Fiber-Rich Snacks

• Snacking can be an easy way to get more fiber and improve gut health.
• Fiber helps fuel the “good” microbes in the gut, which influence overall health.
• Gut health scientist and chef Emily Leeming snacks on dark chocolate and fruit.

Snacking can be a great way to eat more fiber and take care of your gut health, Emily Leeming, a registered dietitian and gut microbiome researcher at King’s College London, told Business Insider.

The gut microbiome is the name given to the billions of microbes that live in the lining of the colon and that studies have linked to our overall health, from the immune system to the brain.

Fiber, found in foods like fruits, vegetables, whole grains and beans, fuels the “good” microbes in the gut. And studies suggest it helps create a more diverse microbiome, an indicator of a healthy gut. The Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommend that adults consume between 22 and 34 grams of fiber each day.

Snacks make up about 20% of a person’s average energy intake, Leeming said, so choosing more nutritious foods can be a “great strategy to make big strides for our health.”

“When you’re hungry, you might think, ‘Okay, can I get at least five grams of fiber in a snack?'” Leeming, a trained chef and author of “Genius Gut: The Life-Changing Science of Eating for your second brain,” said.

Leeming shared her four go-to snacks that improve your gut health.

Fresh or dried fruit

Fresh or dried fruit is a delicious snack, a great source of fiber and easy to eat on the go, Leeming said: “I love fruit, I eat a lot of it.”

Berries, in particular, are high in fiber and can be sprinkled over a sweet breakfast like oatmeal or Greek yogurt in seconds, she said.

Dried apricots, which contain seven grams of fiber per 100 grams, are another favorite.

Nut

In addition to containing heart-healthy fats and plant-based proteins, nuts are high in fiber.

Related Stories

They contain around seven to nine grams of fiber per 100 grams and generally require no preparation, making them the perfect quick, gut-friendly snack.

Leeming keeps a jar of mixed nuts near the kettle in her kitchen, so she can eat them while waiting for them to boil.

“The things that I want to eat more of, I keep in my line of vision. It visually entices you to eat them at first,” she said.

Raw vegetables and dip

Leeming likes to keep plant-based dips like hummus or guacamole, as well as some chopped vegetables, in the fridge so she can grab them when she’s feeling peckish.

“Just having healthier snacks that are more readily available really helps,” she said. “I really focus on easy, simple things that you don’t need to do a lot of mental logistics to achieve.”

Vegetables contain fiber, as do chickpeas in hummus and avocado in guacamole.

Dark chocolate

85% dark chocolate is surprisingly high in fiber, Leeming said: “It’s about 11 grams of fiber per 100 grams.”

She loves to eat two squares with fruit as a snack. “This represents a significant contribution to the 30 grams of fiber per day we need,” she said.

Dark chocolate, which contains antioxidants, also has other health benefits. A recent study based on around 110,000 nurses, published in the BMJ, found that those who consumed five or more servings of dark chocolate per week had a 21% lower risk of type 2 diabetes from baseline than those who who did not consume it or rarely ate it. .

The authors said this could be because dark chocolate is rich in epicatechin, a polyphenol that research shows could help prevent metabolic diseases.