Most salad greens contain essential dietary nutrients, such as vitamins, minerals, and even water. "They also provide fiber, which is beneficial in many areas, including cardiovascular and gastrointestinal health.
A green, vegetable-heavy salad is likely to be an excellent source of fiber. Most of the fiber in lettuce is insoluble fiber, which is the type that adds bulk to the contents of your intestines and keeps things moving smoothly. It also reduces your risk of things like diverticulitis, hemorrhoids, and constipation.
About 20 percent of the fiber in lettuce, or 0.2 grams of fiber per two-cup serving of green leaf lettuce, is soluble fiber.
Eat high-fiber cereals. Vegetables can also add fiber to your diet. Some high-fiber vegetables are asparagus, broccoli, corn, squash, and potatoes (with the skin still on). Salads made with lettuce, spinach, and cabbage will also help.
Even a seemingly healthy salad from a fast food restaurant is often light on fiber—simple lettuce greens provide only about 0.5 grams of fiber per cup. Look for salads that include other vegetables, and whenever possible, up the fiber content by adding your own nuts, beans, or corn.
Animal products such as meat, fish, eggs and dairy products, like cheese and yoghurt, don't contain any fibre.
What fruits are highest in fiber? Passion fruit, avocado, and guava are some fruits with the highest fiber content per serving. Berries are also high in fiber, especially raspberries and blackberries.
Bananas, rich in potassium and fiber and low in sodium, are an important component of heart-healthy diets like DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) that aims for about 4,700 mg dietary potassium daily.
Eating fresh, raw vegetables may be good once in a while, but eating too much of raw veggies make it difficult for your digestive tract to break down and digest. You may start suffering from gas, indigestion or bloating. Most people eat salads to lose weight, but this works only according to your body type.
Foods that are good sources of soluble fiber include apples, bananas, barley, oats, and beans. Insoluble fiber helps speed up the transit of food in the digestive tract and helps prevent constipation. Good sources of insoluble fiber include whole grains, most vegetables, wheat bran, and legumes.
Good source fiber breakfast options include whole-grain cereal, oats, barley, whole-grain toast, and fruit or green smoothies.
Health conditions linked to a low fibre diet include – constipation, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), diverticulitis, heart disease and some cancers (including bowel).
If you've been dealing with constipation issues, make yourself a hearty salad with spinach and other leafy greens. They contain insoluble fiber and are proven to ease symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). If you are an iceberg lettuce fan, try making your salad with kale, arugula and spinach.
Avocados are a good source of fiber, and contain more fat (the good kind) than carbohydrate, so are popular on lower-carbohydrate diets such as with diabetes.
Romaine lettuce is high in fiber and low in calories—generally a good ratio for a food to have—but it's also a solid source of essential vitamins and minerals.
Carrots, beets, and broccoli are fiber-rich. Collard greens and Swiss chard have 4 grams of fiber per cup. Artichokes are among the highest-fiber veggies, at 10 grams for a medium-sized one.