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Today, we will talk about fiber, this nutritional treasure that is the preserve of the plant kingdom, and which our diets so sorely lack.
The fault of the food industry and ultra-processed products, the fault of lack of time to cook, the fault of our appetite for dairy and meat products, which the lobbies take great care of!
Fiber has no energy value, but it plays a large role in regulating bowel movements, allowing us to be healthier.
Guest: Hélène Schernberg
This is what we will joyfully explore with Hélène Schernberg, the great friend with whom I have just co-signed a book with Terre Vivante on the subject. I met Hélène on the benches of bio prep school while we both were closely acquainted with anorexia.
Since then, we have healed ourselves by studying nutrition in depth. Hélène is now an agricultural engineer and economist.
She holds a doctorate in economics and heads a university center dedicated to risk management.
In parallel, she develops her expertise in nutrition through recipe books and coaching. She ran a vegetarian recipe and nutrition blog for 10 years.
My Questions
- Hélène, you ran a wonderful blog “Green Me Up” for 10 years after studying agronomy. Why did you become interested in nutrition? And what questions frequently came up from your community?
- Let’s talk about fiber. What is fiber?
- Can you describe the different types of fiber?
- Why a book on fiber? Are we lacking it that much?
- What are the health benefits of fiber?
- Can one eat too much fiber? Could there be side effects?
- What is the impact of cooking on the quality of fiber?
- Do we lose fiber when blending foods, like in a smoothie or juice? (a question I had often)
- Is there anything else to know about the links between the microbiota and fiber?
- Should it be eaten at a particular time of day? In association with other foods?
- You have written about ten healthy cooking books. What would be your major recommendations for our listeners?
- Can you give us one or two fiber-rich recipes that you particularly love?
Resources for Further Exploration
- Our book on fiber: Les fibres, mes alliées santé, Editions Terre Vivante
- A good summary on fiber, by Yuka
