The Greenprint. Marco Borges

guts of lean people. Also, some gut bacteria trigger cravings and a tendency to store more calories as fat.

      Happily, the trick is to make sure the good bugs outnumber the bad. One important way to do this is to feed the good bugs their favourite food: special prebiotic fibres found in a variety of plant foods, like asparagus, Jerusalem artichokes, onions, garlic and leeks, as well as chia seeds, flaxseeds and hemp seeds. Nurturing the beneficial creatures in your digestive tract may be a helpful route to a healthy weight.

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      Of course, there’s almost no end to the number of trendy diets you can participate in. But thanks to these four factors, the safest and most natural way to shed kilos is simply to eat a fibre-rich plant-based diet. They make fibre a fantastic secret weapon in the fight against fat! I’ll show you how to apply this wellness law to your life in part 2, but let’s talk about how to start incorporating it now. For starters, how much fibre do you need each day to shed kilos, keep your weight under control and stay healthy? The current medical recommendation is up to 35 grams, but no fewer than 25 grams, of fibre daily. Sadly, most adults get only 15 grams or less!

      You could hit (and exceed) that target by eating these foods over the course of a day: 40 grams of oatmeal (3 grams fibre), 125 grams of raspberries (8 grams), 30 grams of cooked red or black beans (7 grams), a small apple (5 grams), 35 gramsp of cooked lentils (8 grams), and 75 grams of cooked peas (8 grams). That’s 39 grams of fibre.

      There are other simple actions you can take to automatically get into the high-fibre habit:

       Have 40 to 80 grams of oats or whole-grain cereal for breakfast.

       Sprinkle your cereal with chia seeds or flaxseeds.

       Toss a couple of handfuls of greens such as spinach into your smoothies.

       Snack on fresh fruit or nuts and seeds.

       Use avocado on toast and sandwiches, and in salads and smoothies (½ avocado contains 5 grams of fibre).

       Bake with high-fibre flours. For example, 25 grams of coconut flour has 11 grams of fibre, and the same amount of soya flour has 5 grams of fibre.

       Chow down on plenty of beans and legumes, an important part of many traditional diets. Just 60 grams of cooked beans can deliver up to 75 per cent of your daily fibre needs. Incorporate these fibre-rich foods into your diet by enjoying hummus and other bean dips or by topping salads with cooked beans or lentils.

       Eat plenty of green leafy vegetables, as well as vegetables with high water content such as cucumbers and tomatoes. You end up with a larger portion of fibre and water, which will fill you up before you get too many calories.

       Add a bean soup or salad to your dinner to help you feel more satisfied.

      A lot of people have asked me why I eat a high-fibre and plant-based diet, since I am naturally thin and don’t need to lose weight. It’s true – I’ve never had a weight problem. But here’s the beauty of it all: not only will this law help you control your weight, but a high-fibre diet also resolves constipation and other digestive problems. The other advantages are that it can reduce the risk of heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure and some types of cancer. Preventing these illnesses is important to me, because there is a history of heart disease in my family. Eating a plant-based diet high in fibre makes me feel like I am ensuring myself against future problems.

      As this law states, a high-fibre, plant-based diet lets you eat more food yet weigh less. It’s satisfying enough to enjoy on an ongoing basis. While most diets are notoriously difficult to stick with, this law sets forth diet principles you can live with for a lifetime.

      YOUR GREENPRINT

       by Following Law #3

      Transitioning to plant-based eating keeps you naturally thinner. Consider the following data: vegetarians are significantly slimmer than meat eaters. On average, vegetarian men weigh nearly 8 kilos less than non-vegetarians, according to an analysis of multiple studies by researchers at Loma Linda University in California. And vegans are the slimmest of all, according to a British study of thirty-eight thousand meat eaters, fish eaters, vegetarians and vegans, published in June 2003 in the International Journal of Obesity.

      TOP 5 HIGH-FIBRE FOODS

       IN PLANT-BASED FOOD GROUPS

PLANT PROTEINS	SERVING SIZE	TOTAL FIBRE (GRAMS)
The plant protein food group includes a variety of high-fibre items, which are also good sources of iron, zinc and other vitamins and minerals. Try to have ½ to 1 serving of a plant protein at each meal.
Lentils, cooked	75 grams	15.6
Black beans, cooked	60 grams	15.0
Butter beans, cooked	75 grams	13.2
Almonds	25 grams (23 nuts)	3.5
Pistachio nuts	25 grams (49 nuts)	2.9

VEGETABLES	SERVING SIZE	TOTAL FIBRE (GRAMS)
The vegetable group includes both raw and cooked vegetables. This group is especially high in disease-fighting antioxidants and life-enriching phytochemicals. Eat liberally from this group.
Artichoke, cooked	1 medium	10.3
Green peas, cooked	150 grams	8.8
Broccoli, cooked	175 grams	5.1
Turnip greens, cooked	225 grams	5.0
Brussels sprouts, cooked	100 grams	4.1

FRUITS	SERVING SIZE	TOTAL FIBRE (GRAMS)
The fruit group includes raw fresh fruit. Eating just a small amount of fruit daily can reduce heart disease risk and improve your health. Enjoy