High-Fibre Foods: The MVP of Pelvic Health

You've probably heard or read about how important fibre is to your gut health and more specifically...how it impacts your bowel movements. But did you know fibre is also great for your pelvic health?

Let's take a step back and get a better understanding of fibre. Fibre is considered a carbohydrate, but unlike a typical "carb" like white bread, pastries and candy, fibre is undigested by the body. This is because it has a primary role of regulating blood sugars, keeping you feeling satiated and removing waste from your system. Fibre has been shown to decrease the prevalence of diverticulitis, heart disease, high cholesterol, colorectal cancer and constipation. It is recommended that adults have at least 25 grams on a daily basis.

There are two types of fibre, insoluable and soluable and each has many other subcategories (which I won't go into detail today). Insoluable Fibre: fibre that dissolves in water, which helps regulate your blood sugars. Soluable Fibre: fibre that does not dissolve in water and is responsible for keeping your waste movable-thus avoiding constipation.

How does fibre contribute to pelvic health?

A healthy functioning pelvic floor moves freely; there is a good balance between relaxation and tension of the pelvic floor muscles. When we are talking about bowel movements, the pelvic floor muscles will lengthen and relax to allow stool to move out of the system. But if the stool is hard due to constipation, bearing down or pushing is sometimes required. Chronic constipation with bearing down/pushing can lead to pelvic floor dysfunction. Pelvic floor dysfunction as it relates to constipation can present as the inability or difficulty to relax the pelvic floor muscles leading to pain in/around the pelvis, incontinence, urgency, hemorrhoids etc. That's why keeping stool movable is a key contributor to healthy pelvic floor functioning. Now, here is the good stuff. I have created this wonderful chart below that shows example high-fibre foods WITH their fiber content alongside it for easy referencing. If you are looking for some easy high-fibre meals/snacks click here!

High-Fibre Food	Fibre Content (grams)	High-Fibre Food	Fibre Content (grams)
RASPBERRIES	1 CUP = 8g	WHOLE-GRAIN BREAD	2 SLICES = 6g
PEAR	1 MEDIUM = 6g	BROWN & WILD RICE	1 CUP = 5g
AVOCADO	1/2 MEDIUM = 5g	CHICKPEAS	1/2 CUP = 8g
SWEET POTATO	5" LONG = 4g	OLD FASHION OATS	1/2 CUP = 4g
SPAGHETTI SQUASH	1 CUP = 2g	FLAXSEED	2 TBSP = 3g

References:

https://www.metamucil.com/en-us/articles/fiber-101/high-fiber-foods

https://nutritionsource.hsph.harvard.edu/carbohydrates/fiber/