If you have been following our Nurtrition challenges, you have increased your water and protein intake and limited the amount of simple carbs or sugar in your daily diet. This month we turn or efforts to fiber. Fiber helps to reduce cholesterol in the body, Fiber is important in maintaining the
health of the digestive tract. Fiber can help control our appetite and assist in maintaining or losing weight. Fiber also is important to our ling-term health and can lower our risk of heart disease, diabetes and certain types of cancer.
Fiber is present in fruits, grains, vegetables and beans. The amount of daily fiber that you should have is based on your total calorie intake. On average, women
should aim for about 25 grams of fiber per day and men about 38 grams of fiber.
The Challenge
If you do not eat much fiber we recommend that you challenge yourself to get to 15 -20 grams a day for men or 15 grams a day for women.
If you already consume 15 grams per day as a woman or 20 grams per day a a man, challenge yourself to increase your fiber to 25 grams for women and 30 - 38 grams for men each day.
Here is a primer on fiber from the Mayo clinic
To keep you motivated during the fiber challenge check out our Monthly Challenge Facebook page. Let us know how you are doing and check back on our Monthly Challenge page for more tips and articles on fiber. 
