Fiber Up with Avocados and Almond Milk

One of my friends has made an important observation on my diet musings so far.....where's the fiber?  As I had mentioned in my first blog, I've been more concerned with counting carbs than counting calories, I felt there was a natural lowering of calories because most low carb foods are actually low - low calorie....Spinach has a whopping 7 calories a cup.

Just to see how low my fiber was going I went back and started to calculate that too.  The obvious answer is too low.  I did some reading and the average adult consumes 15 grams of fiber a day.  For women, it is recommended to get 25 grams of fiber a day and for men 30 grams.   In most cases, this last week, I was getting 8 - 10 grams a day.   I have realized that everyone is different in this world, their bodies are different and what works for us may not work for others.  I have been fine with the lower fiber for the most part.   But I am going to try for an increase and see what that does for me.

First up, I found a great article which shares some of the high fiber, low carb food out there. High-Fiber Low-Carb Foods on About.com. For example, those avocados I love...super high fiber.  I have been using them too sparingly because they are a little higher in carbs than other veggies I use in my salads.  I'm increasing them.  A cup of avocado has 12 carbs, but 10 grams of fiber.  By incorporating the avocado, I'm almost half way to the recommended dietary amount.  I may have to skip that glass of wine...but the trade off is good.

Almond milk, surprisingly low in carbs at 1 carb per cup, is also 1 gram of fiber.  I'm using this instead of my treasured whipped cream in my coffee to see how that will help.   I was worried about the taste, actually...not bad, I even tried a little with a teaspoon of Nestle's Quick, a nice shake, relatively low in carbs at 3.3 carbs a cup.

So, here's to modifications!  Enjoy your almond milk and avocados and all those other lovely high fiber low carb foods out there.