Even though, too much food can be the cause of weight gain, a surplus of the right foods can help you to achieve weight loss and satisfy your hunger. Too often, the wrong foods are chosen and even if a person has a second or even third helping, the food may still not provide the entire required daily amount of nutrient that the food may contain. A better choice of food that will satisfy the body longer are those nutritious foods that are high in fiber.



Generally, such high fiber foods are whole grains, vegetables and fruits. These food groups are highly packed with nutrients and fiber. Fiber is more difficult for the body to digest than the digestion of a liquid or simple sugar. The body may even spend more calories chewing and digesting the food than the food itself delivers by the time the person is done eating the food, such as in the case of raw carrots. Imagine the energy it would take to chew through a pile of raw carrots. This fact is the reason why many healthy diets encourage people to eat as many raw vegetables and low sugar fruit as they want.

There are two types of fiber, soluble and insoluble. One food may contain portions of both types of fiber or may only provide one type of fiber. Generally, most foods contain some of both fiber types. A high fiber food is great for any weight loss diet because such a food will provide nutrients to the body in a slow release way as in the case of soluble fiber or it may give the body a sense of fullness as does the insoluble fiber.

The difference between soluble and insoluble fiber is that the soluble fiber takes a longer time to digest but as it digests, it releases nutrients and energy which will satisfy the body longer than low fiber foods can. The insoluble fiber does not get digested in the same way by the body and the insoluble fiber instead works its way through the body, cleaning the digestive tract as it does. The insoluble fiber does not offer the body any nutrients as it passes through, its benefits are from its ability to make the body feel full and keep the digestion tract healthy. Eating both types of fiber will provide excellent dietary benefits and help anyone to achieve their weight loss goals.

Although, all natural and unprocessed vegetables and fruits contain fiber, some foods contain more fiber than other foods. Examples of nutritious high fiber foods include oatmeal, bran, whole grain bread, beans, broccoli and popcorn. Any fresh vegetable or fruit that you eat will give you a certain amount of fiber.

You only need about 30 to 35 grams a day of fiber to meet your daily requirements, although this is only a general number that does not apply to everyone. The amount of fiber that is needed daily is dependent upon a person's age, size and normal diet. It is important to introduce fiber into any diet gradually since the digestion tract could rebel against too much fiber at once so take it slow when you choose to switch to a high fiber diet.