Professor Tim Spector says tiny amount of food can reduce risk of diabetes, stroke, heart disease

Nutritional scientist Tim Spector has spoken about a key food of which a tiny amount extra a day can reduce the risk of early death. Speaking on his Instagram page, Professor Spector said that up to 95 per cent of people don’t get enough fibre - and showed followers how to add just a bit more.

Prof Spector, who founded the Zoe health app, said a tiny amount extra could have a big impact. He said: “We will need more fibre in the US and the UK. Around 90 -95% of us are lacking in fibre. And we know this is so important for not only our gut health, but also our heart health. Just five grams of fibre extra has been shown to reduce your risk of early death by 14%.”

Prof Spector said getting that extra bit of fibre could come from fruit too - making it easy to add for meals like breakfast. With food in front of him, he said: “So you’ve got these bowls. Each of these has five grammes just in whole grain pasta here. In any sort of Berries, particularly in raspberries packed with fibre, five grams here. Then humble pear has six grams of fibre, much more than bananas. Avocado, just half an avocado, six grams, as does my good friend fermented soy Tempe.

“And you can slice that in small amounts and even a tiny little slice of rye bread has four grammes. So put all this together. You’ve got about 40 grammes of fibre. These are some very simple tips inexpensive ways to increase the fibre in your diet and improve your health and your gut health.”

The recommended level is around 30g of fibre a day and he said in his post: “The lack of fibre in our modern diets is thought to be a driver of human gut microbiome depletion and an associated increase in disease. Studies have linked eating more fibre with a reduction in your risk of diabetes, stroke, heart disease and multiple cancers. A recent review from the WHO found that an additional 5g of fibre every day could reduce your risk of premature mortality by around 14%.”

To help followers visualise what 5g of fibre looks he gave some examples:

• wholegrain pasta - 5g/100g

• raspberries - 5g/100g

• 1 large pear ~ 6g

• 1/2 a large avocado ~ 6g

• 100g tempeh - 6g

• 1 slice of rye bread - 4g