Barry Sears mentions psyllium husk as a product to add to foods to give a feeling of fullness as it swells in the stomach. If you find smoothies or soy fruit ices not as satisfying as you would expect you could try adding a teaspoon of psyllium husk. It is no count dietary fibre. It can also be used as a thickener and added to yoghurt, milk, desserts, porridge and muesli etc and used in cooking. It can also be simply stirred into water and taken as fibre and a filler.
Please note the psyllium husk is a heavy dose of fibre and can have a laxative effect. Although extra fibre is often recommended in irritable bowel syndrome it actually has an increased inflammatory effect and can actually make matters worse. However not all fibre is equal and it is interesting that the fibre in psyllium husk is claimed to be gentle and gut friendly compared to fibre from roughage so if you do suffer from IBS it could be worth carefully trying it.
Psyllium husk is distributed by Ceres Organics in New Zealand and available in the organics section of supermarkets including Countdown.
Contributed by Kevin Bateman