If you go on Tik Tok you would be familiar with the term ‘maxxing’ I’m sure, but if you haven’t heard of it, let me enlighten you…the term ‘maxxing’ is all over social media and it is defined as” the practice of optimizing or maximizing specific aspects of one’s life to an extreme degree”. This can include various areas such as appearance (looksmaxxing), health (healthmaxxing), wealth (wealthmaxxing), often aimed at achieving an idealized version of oneself. But all this striving can also cause a negative maxxing, referred to as cortisolmaxxing. I could go on…
And now another maxxing has shown up.
What is Fibre Maxxing?
While high protein foods have taken the main stage over the last few years, an increased awareness of how good fibre is for improving our gut health has led to a trend called ‘fibremaxxing’. As unhealthy a trend as I think ‘maxxing’ is, I did have to pause and wonder if this one is actually a step in the right direction.
I can’t find a specific definition for ‘fibremaxxing’ and so from what I can see, it is all about orienting your meals around a lot of plant based fruits and vegetables and legumes. And as someone who has long promoted the perfect trifecta of protein, fibre and fat in each of your meals, I think this is great!
There are three key reasons fibre is so key to our health:
1) It is food for our microbiome. If you want all the details, you can check out my blog post from a couple of weeks ago, but in a nutshell a healthy biome helps us produce and absorb certain key nutrients, it produces essential neurotransmitters like serotonin, it helps feed our intestinal lining and it actually helps lower our risk of colon cancer by up to 25% according to studies.
Soluble fibre is the primary fuel that feeds our gut microbiome. It ferments in the colon, providing energy to the beneficial bacteria. Examples of soluble fbre are oats, psyllium, chia seeds, beans and sweet potatoes.
2) It provides bulk to our stool, decreases transit time, or in other words, prevents constipation, and moves things through you more quickly. But more than just having a happy bathroom experience, this is important since harmful toxins and carcinogens pass through you more quickly, reducing your risk of cancer and other diseases.
Insoluble fibre is the hero in this story, it is poorly fermented by gut microbes but acts like a pipe cleaner in a sense by adding bulk to stool and aiding in regularity, clearing things out. Good sources are leafy greens, whole wheat, flax seeds and fruit skins.
3) It helps lower our LDL cholesterol naturally.
Soluble fibre is the most effective at lowering LDL as it acts like a sponge in the intestines, trapping cholesterol rich bile acids.
4) It helps slow down digestion which makes you feel full for longer, aiding in weight loss and blood sugar balance.
Soluble fibre is the most effective for keeping you full longer as it dissolves in water to form a thick, gel like substance in the stomach. This gel slows down digestion, delays stomach emptying, and keeps you feeling full for extended periods of time.
How to Boost Your Intake
1) Swap refined grains: Choose brown rice, quinoa and chick pea pasta over white versions.
2) Add supplements: try adding a teaspoon to a tablespoon of psyllium to your breakfast in the morning or adding chia seeds to your overnight oats.
3) Stay hydrated: Consuming enough fluids is critical for firbre to work properly in your digestive system.
4) If you don’t consume a lot of fibre now, make sure you go LOW AND SLOW. Slowly start to incorporate higher fibre foods into your diet and let your body get acclimatized.
5) Enjoy a variety of fibres. As I mentioned in my previous post, we have trillions of cells in our microbiome and, just like you, many of them need different nutrients in order to survive and so give them a variety of foods.
