The new Dietary Guidelines for Americans came out a few months ago with new strategies for sounding the alarm on the American diet. As called out in previous guidelines, we continue to eat too much of some foods and not enough of others. With too few vegetables, fruits, whole grains, and legumes (beans) in our daily meals, we fall short in several important nutrients, including fiber. So what?
Here’s the deal with fiber. It’s really important for everyday functions like regularity. Also diets with enough fiber have been linked to lower risk of developing an assortment of different chronic diseases. And the newest news pertains to fiber and the microbes (bacteria) that live in the large intestine. Dr. Glenn Gibson, a professor at the University of Reading, UK, who spoke at a conference I attended in London, describes certain types of fiber as fertilizer for good bacteria in the gut – it feeds them and helps them flourish. These fibers often are referred to as prebiotics; probiotics are cultures of good bacteria that may be added to foods like yogurt, or supplements. Dr. Justin Sonnenburg, associate professor, Stanford School of Medicine, notes that eating too little fiber can starve the microbes and weaken the gut’s defense system against disease.
It’s not that tough to get enough fiber. Eat plenty of fruits and vegetables, have at least three whole grain servings every day, add beans, and look for “functional fibers” such as inulin, also called chicory root fiber, and guar gum on the ingredient list of certain foods and supplements. Some supply both prebiotics and probiotics, for example, yogurt with probiotic cultures and inulin, and the cleverly named Regular Girl supplement of probiotic cultures and guar gum created by my colleague, Dr. Felicia D. Stoler.
Several years ago, I worked on a fabulous book called the “American Medical Association Family Health Cookbook.” It won a James Beard Award and I won a KitchenAid mixer! The two recipe developers created a terrific bran muffin recipe that is one of my favorites. Since I never leave recipes as they are, here is my latest twist. My neighbor Greg brews beer (in addition to tapping his maple trees and making syrup) and ends up with pound of spent barley, oats, and other grains. Instead of adding bran, I added Greg’s grains. So delicious, and very high in fiber.
Greg’s Grains Bran Muffins
Makes 16–24 mini-muffins
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 1/4 cups spent beer grains*
1 egg
1/4 cup (50 g) vegetable oil
1/4 cup (70 g) molasses
1/4 cup (70 g) honey
1/2 cup low-fat (or other dairy or non-dairy) milk
1/2 cup raisins
*To make this recipe with bran flakes cereal instead of beer grains, soak 1 1/2 cups of bran flakes in 1 cup milk and eliminate the 1/2 cup milk
- Preheat the oven to 375° F. Spray a mini-muffin pan with cooking spray or line with paper liners.
- Whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and cinnamon in a large bowl. Stir in the grains, egg, oil, molasses, honey, and milk. Fold in the raisins.
- Spoon into the muffin cups, filling them about 3/4 full.
- Bake for about 15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean.
Disclaimer: I received partial sponsorship to the conference I attended in London and was not paid to promote any presentations. Some of the information presented was gathered through my work with Beneo and the Dannon Company but I was not paid to promote products in this blog post. Regular Girl samples were sent to me. All opinions are my own.
