A diet that is high in saturated fats, meat, sugar, caffeine and fast-foods slows digestion and adds extra burden on the intestinal tract. This affects your overall health and reduces the absorption of nutrients that are so essential and readily available from our food.

To keep the digestive system on top form, it is essential that your daily diet contains lots of soluble fibre, which we get from fruits and vegetables. These add bulk to the stool and promote a regular motion. In addition, you need plenty of insoluble fibre to maintain a health digestive tract, which is obtained from rice and grains.

Fibre comes from plants. Foods with fibre include fruits, vegetables, beans, whole grain breads, cereals, pastas and crackers. Fibre is an important part of a healthy diet - one that most of us don't get enough of. A diet high in fibre has been shown to help lower cholesterol and blood pressure; prevent heart disease, obesity, and some forms of cancer. Fibre moves cancer-causing toxins and other disease-promoting agents out of the body on a regular basis, so that there is less prolonged contact with the digestive tract.

Aim for at least thirty grams of fibre daily. One gram of fibre is about the size of a small paper clip. The less a food has been processed, the more natural fibre will be retained - fresh fruit and vegetables will have more fibre than their processed counterparts. Packaged foods can also be a good source of fibre, if you pay attention to labels. As a general rule, select foods that have at least three grams of fibre per serving.

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