Doctor's Kitchen Monday: Soluble Fiber

(My first Phad Thai--don't sneer at my soggy little broccolis, this way I can get my family to at least eat it--we'll work up to less and less cooked with time.)

Let's talk about fiber:

We all know that we should take in 25 grams of fiber a day according to the RDI, Referenced Daily Intake, formerly the RDA, Recommended Daily Allowance.  The recommended amount of each, soluble and insoluble fiber, is not spelled out in that recommendation, although both are necessary to the body but work in different ways. 

Insoluble fiber is the fiber that the body can't use and is moved through the intestines without change. This provides bulk to the stool.  Soluble fiber is not broken down by the body either, but is turned into a gel when coupled with water and has a few unique properties dieters can cash in on.  For one, it slows down emptying of the stomach making us feel full longer, and it adds softening properties to the stool that make the whole elimination process faster and easier to tolerate. On top of those physical properties we can easily see and feel, soluble fiber also improves glucose metabolism.

To break digestion down into a quick nutshell:  Food is broken down into tiny bits of sugar called glucose which the body's cells can use directly.  Insulin is the "key" that unlocks the door to allow glucose into the cells. 

As we age and/or gain weight or become obese, our bodies function less efficiently and become insulin resistant which is a risk for developing diabetes. The numbers are scary.  According to a 2006 study by Dr. Laurie Barclay and Dr. Desiree Lie, there's a 20% chance of insulin resistance with every 5% increase in weight over the age of 20.  (Basically, that means I'm screwed because that's how I put my weight on, 5-7 lbs a year, after the age of 20.)  The normal weight population has a 4% chance of developing diabetes.  The obese population has a 46% risk of developing diabetes. If your weight is in between those two groups, your risk is in between those two figures.

Soluble fiber has been shown to control blood sugar spikes. The object of the game is to eat, transform the food into glucose, and have a steady supply available to the cells, rather than a spike and drop amount of glucose supplied, with an efficiently working insulin key.  Soluble fiber helps attain those objectives.  Not only does that aid us in losing weight, which is in its most basic form all about not eating more fuel than our bodies need for energy and using up the stores we already do have, soluble fiber aids us in feeling better all the time because our bodies are producing energy more efficiently and lowering our diabetes risk.

So what foods have plenty of soluble fiber? Oatmeal and barley are excellent sources in cereals.  Apples, berries, prunes, and citrus are all packed. Apples in particular are loaded with pectin which is soluble fiber.  So that gives an interesting twist to the old saying "An apple a day..." All beans, but lima, black, and navy beans are the highest sources in that family.  And for vegetables:  broccoli, brussel sprouts, bean sprouts, and carrots are soluble dynamos.

Interesting that three of those vegetables are often found together in stir fries.  Guess what I'll be eating more of?  Little Debbie Carrot Cakes.  Just kidding.  Little Debbie may be a sweet girl but her cakes are all but poison on anyone's diet just from the transfats alone.  Viva la stir fry! Which, as I've said before, to me just seems like hot salad over rice or noodles.  It's a way to break up the salad routine.  So viva la vegetables in general.

Also interesting that two of those vegetables (broccoli and brussel sprouts) are in the cabbage family.  Just something to keep in the back of your mind. Other members of the family include: cauliflower, beet greens, as well as mustard, collard, and turnip greens, swiss chard, kale, bok choy, rutabagas, radishes, and turnips, all good sources of fiber of both varieties.

Phad Thai is easy to make at home,full of flavor, and hosts the soluble fiber of bean sprouts. The genesis of the dish is rice stick noodles, fish sauce, egg, and chopped peanuts. Served on street food carts all over Bangkok and maybe one of the most recognizable Thai dishes in the states, Phad Thai has as many variations as possible ingredients, including those with tofu, shrimp, chicken, or without added protein. I added broccoli to the recipe I chose to increase the soluble fiber count.  Gene, who loves his down home cooking, but isn't necessarily unadventurous, really liked this dish.  With a little practice on my part (this was my first attempt) I think this could become a regular part of our meal repetoire.

For more on my personal diet story and the recipe, click below:

To update my diet story, I'm clearly in the weeds, so to speak. With going on vacation and enjoying all that yummy Vegas food and then coming home to the last week of not being able to walk (ankle sprain/knee bursitis) the news isn't good. I got on the scale yesterday and I'm back up to the same weight I was at the first of the year.  I still am down the 20 lbs I lost last summer right after respiratory school but forget the weight and physical progress I've made since then.

It really sucks. Why is it that it takes so much blankety blank blank work to take it off but there's hardly any effort in putting it back on?  So unfair.

But enough whining.  I haven't been eating badly the last week, I just haven't been able to move much so starting today I'm going back to some basic floor exercises until my leg is healed enough to get me back into the gym and cardio.

I'm also shopping differently at the grocery store. Dr. Brenda and I discussed concentrating on shopping the outer walls instead of the inside rows. She has a point.  Except for the basic pantry items, the rows in the middle of the grocery are where all the pre-packaged foods and the diet killers like chips, crackers, etc., are. On the last two trips to the grocery, other than Gene's coffee and the Smart Balance mayo (made with canola oil), I shopped produce, Asian, meat, and dairy.  Everything else I can make at home myself better (allow me the ego) and better for us, down to I'm going to start baking our own sourdough whole wheat bread again.  Amazingly, the more I cook, the better I do at keeping Gene and I on track eating healthily, not too much and not too little, which can also be one of my hang-ups. The better and more balanced we eat, the more dedicated I am and the more energy I have to exercise. 

Think good thoughts for me.  There are days when the whole thing depresses the hell out of me and it's hard not to belly up to the trough and eat Krispy Kremes and Haagan Daz as if I were doing it for a living just to spite myself.

PHAD THAI with Broccoli

Ingredients:

3 1/2 oz. (half bag) Rice Stick Noodles (available at Price Cutter--"China Bowl Select" brand)

2 Tbsp Sesame Oil

1/4-1/2 lb shrimp, cubed tofu, or diced chicken

4 green onions, cut into 1" pieces

2 cups bean sprouts

2 cups broccoli, cut into small florets

1 egg

Sauce:

2 Tbsp fish sauce

3 cloves garlic, minced

1-3 tsp red chili sauce

1/2 tsp ground white pepper

2 Tbsp sugar

3 Tbsp tamarind (if not available, substitute 3 Tbsp white vinegar)

Juice of one lime

Garnish:

Lime wedges

Cilantro

2 Tbsp peanuts, crushed

Instructions:

1.  In a small bowl, combine ingredients for the sauce and set aside. 

Cook's note:  My husband, Gene, isn't much of a spice person so since I was making him broccoli and rice noodles, a little out of his comfort zone, I cut him some slack on the red chili sauce and used 1/2 tsp paprika instead.  Still a little pepper flavor without the heat.

2.  On separate cutting boards, prepare meat and vegetables and set aside.

3.  Bowl two quarts water for pasta.  Cook pasta for 3-5 minutes, until softened but not mushy.  Drain and set aside.

4.  Heat wok (or large heavy skillet) on medium high.  Quickly sear shrimp, chicken, or tofu in sesame oil and set aside. Add broccoli and green onion and cook almost to desired doneness, moving frequently so as not to scorch.

Push broccoli to side and quickly scramble an egg in the open space of the wok.

Add bean sprouts and toss with other ingredients for a minute or so.

5.  Add protein back in along with noodles and sauce. Gently toss to coat everything with sauce and to warm everything through.

Cook's note: This is not a saucy dish.  The sauce coats the noodles and veggies but doesn't actually pool as a sauce. 

6. Garnish finished dish with lime wedges, cilantro leaves, and scatter crushed peanuts across the top.

Makes 4 servings.

Time from start to finish:  Half hour

Nutrition counts per serving-- Calories: 268; Protein: 20; Carbs:  27; Fat:  9.

Cook's note: One final secret.  I bought a jar of Thai Kitchen Pad Thai sauce just for grins and compared the two sauces.  The from scratch version is better but the jarred sauce isn't bad. It's a little sweeter, not hot, and much thicker in texture.  In my inexperienced with phad thai opinion, the jarred sauce is fine if you're in a hurry or don't have the ingredients handy for the sauce from scratch but I'd thin it down with a couple of Tbsps of water. Add 5 carbs to the count for the extra sugar per serving.

Comments

[sher]

NO! Little Debbie Carrot Cakes are bad for you? Sigh. Great post, lots of good info there. The Pad Thai looks delish. Hang in there!

[Glenna]

Sher--Thanks! I know. I hate that Little Debbie cakes are bad for you. It's like her smiling face on the box lies! :-)

[Egeefay]

Don't know if you've seen this already but if not Yu might be interested in this website.
www.thaifoodtonight.com
It's got about 30 recipes each one with a cooking video to go along
Good if you like to try cooking Thai food at home

[Mimi]

Now way woudl I laugh at that! It looks great.

[Glenna]

Egeefay--Is that your web site? I really liked it. The videos are great. Thanks for posting them.

Mimi--You are too kind.

[Willa]

I love Thai food- I made a strange stir fry last night with Peanut Satay sauce and a little bit of red curry paste for some zing. It was a rather unpleasant brown color, but tasted really good.

Thanks for the fiber discussion- very informative.

[Caitlyn]

Yum.

I've read the outer walls theory of shopping, and it really is totally true. Since I'm incapable of walking through the chips aisle without buying, I have to avoid it. 11 servings in a bag my ass. More like 3. And the fat is bad, bad, bad to my digestive tract.

Soluble fiber is also key in calming overactive digestive tracts, like mine. Learning how to balance SF and IF was a major factor in changing my entire life.

[Glenna]

Willa--sounds really good to me!

Caitlyn--I hear you. Really. I have no self-controlw hen it comes to certain aisles either. I have to say this really kept me from rationalizing buying a bunch of junk.