The Total Fibre Book: A Cookbook and Nutrition Guide for Healthy Living

Arlene Gryfe is a Toronto-based professional nutritionist and home
economist.

This book is actually two in one, each with a separate introduction and index. The “Nutrition and Fibre” explanatory portion is by Helen Bishop MacDonald; “Fabulous Fibre Recipes” is by Margaret Fraser.

While the general public is aware of the usefulness of fibre in our diet, few know the different kinds or sources. Helen Bishop MacDonald is a popular nutritionist who has the skill to make complex ideas simple and nutrition fascinating, with her chatty and humorous writing style. She defines the various kinds of fibre, their characteristics, probable functions, and sources.

One whole chapter is devoted to fibre’s role in preventing various diseases, including cancer of the colon, diabetes, and heart disease. MacDonald does not promise that fibre will cure these diseases; she merely reports the encouraging results to date.

Since foods are rarely composed of single nutrients, another chapter points out the vitamin bonus obtained when eating fibre-rich foods. Conversely, over-processing, either commercially for purposes of preservation, or domestically (by overcooking or indiscriminate peeling) can deplete vitamins, fibre, and trace minerals. Her judicious advice helps to avoid these potential dangers in meal planning. To this end, a one-week fibre monitor and a 12-week planner are included, as well as three typical high-fibre menus. Should overweight be a problem, a seven-day limited-calorie but still high-fibre menu is provided. An extensive bibliography documents sources of nutrition information.

The second half of the book is a collection of fibre-containing recipes. Each recipe details calories, grams of fat, and grams of fibre, as well as noting significant vitamins or minerals present. Small wheat sheaf illustrations denote the amounts of fibre present.

The more than 80 recipes are clearly written in Imperial and metric measures with preparation times noted. The gamut of recipes ranges from appetizers to desserts, with blank pages interspersed for personal notes.

With this useful book, one can readily make some sense of much confusing information on fibre. Using the recipes, one can eat nutrition-ally and imaginatively for an extended period.