A nutrition specialist has revealed a surprisingly fibre-packed snack that could significantly reduce your chances of developing heart disease and other potentially life-threatening conditions. Professor Tim Spector has highlighted a range of foods worth incorporating into your daily diet to hit your recommended fibre targets.

Posting a video to his Instagram account, Prof Spector – an epidemiologist and founder of Zoe Health – cautioned that the vast majority of us are falling short on fibre consumption. Dietary fibre, commonly referred to as roughage, is the indigestible element found within plant-based foods, including fruits, vegetables, grains and legumes.

These pass through the stomach, small intestine and colon largely intact, and are widely recognised for supporting digestion, maintaining bowel health and regulating blood sugar levels. Prof Spector asked: "Are you getting enough fibre?

"Over 90 per cent of adults in the US and UK aren't getting enough fibre and it's leading to a substantial depletion of the human gut microbiome. Fibre is not only crucial for supporting your gut health but it also reduces your risk of diseases including diabetes, stroke, and heart disease.

"A new meta-analysis of over 8,000 adults found that increasing your fibre intake by only five grams per day could decrease your risk of heart disease by around 14 per cent. Reaching the recommended 30 grams of fibre a day is easier than you think, especially when you include the high fibre foods in this video."

In the caption beneath his video, he shared several high-fibre foods worth incorporating into your meals. Topping his list for fibre content was popcorn.

According to Prof Spector, this delivers a remarkable 14.5 grams of fibre per 100g. This claim is backed up by advice from the American Heart Association, which suggests that lightly-seasoned popcorn can be regarded as a wholesome snack.

Its website states: "When it's air-popped and lightly seasoned, popcorn is an efficiently healthy snack. That's because it is a whole grain, and high-fibre whole grains have been linked to a lower risk of heart disease, diabetes, some cancers and other health problems."

The key is steering clear of popcorn laden with excessive sugar or drenched in butter.

Additional foods highlighted by Prof Spector for their fibre levels include:

• Avocados: 3.4g/100g


• Kidney Beans: 9.6g/100g


• Artichoke hearts: 3.6g/100g


• Mushy peas: 3.9g/100g


• Raspberries: 5.2g/100g


• Wholewheat pasta: 3.8g/100g

Among the research cited by Prof Spector was a study published in BMC Medicine in 2022. It discovered that fibre-rich diets decreased "all-cause mortality" and were linked to reduced blood pressure, cholesterol readings, and blood sugar concentrations.

The researchers concluded: "These findings emphasise the likely benefits of promoting greater dietary fibre intakes for patients with cardiovascular disease and hypertension. Further trials and cohort analyses in this area would increase confidence in these results."

According to the NHS website, consuming plenty of fibre is linked to a "lower risk of heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes and bowel cancer". It also advises that adults should be eating a minimum of 30g of fibre daily, yet the majority of us are currently managing only around 20g.