Mairlyn Smith - Peace, Love and Fibre: Over 100 Fibre-Rich Recipes for the Whole Family

A HEALTHY LIFESTYLE IS ABOUT MORE THAN just what you eat. Its about how you cope with stress, how much you exercise, your social circles, your faith, how you face adversity, and a myriad of other factors.

If you eat 10 servings of vegetables and fruit every day but arent getting enough sleep, are eating highly processed foods regularly, are playing on your devices, and then are becoming an inert couch potato from 7 p.m. until bedtime, your long-term health can easily become affected in a negative way. Those vegetables and fruits are only part of what we call a healthy lifestyle.

To live your optimal life, you need to nurture not only your body, but your spirit as wellI always remind myself that health is not the absence of illness, but the total package of my lifes choices. Its because of my belief in the power of mind, body, and spirit working all together that my sign-off is to wish everyone peace, love, and fibre. But talk is cheap. I know youre wondering how I put these three ideas together to create my own healthy lifestyle.

I find peace in the quiet moments I spend each day being thankful for the life that I have, and in drinking tea out of my good teacups. I find peace whenever I reach out to others and offer help and kindness. Or when my husband and I go for a ride in the country, listening to music and walking in nature. I get love from my family and friends, and from loving what I do for a living: writing cookbooks and encouraging people to take care of themselves and their bodies. And fibre? Well, fibre and I go way back. I believe that without fibre in your diet, youll never be on top of your gameeither physically or mentally.

My faith in fibre started when I was studying foods and nutrition at the University of British Columbia, and it has grown exponentially over the years. As the health benefits of fibre kept popping up in my life, they spurred me on to create fibre-rich recipes.

My passion for the power of fibre escalated when I read an Australian study published in 2016 that indicated that a diet high in fibre was a key predictor of what the researchers called successful aging. They found that people who ate a diet rich in fibre had an almost 80% greater likelihood of living a long and healthy life. Those high-fibre eaters were also less likely to suffer from disability, depression, dementia, respiratory problems, heart disease, stroke, and cancer. Yes, the big C-word. Eating fibre had long been linked to a reduction in heart disease and type 2 diabetes, but cancer? That really got my attention.

That same year, findings from the Nurses Health Study II showed that women eating a high-fibre diet reduced their chances of developing breast cancer. The earlier they adopted a high-fibre eating lifestyle, the better the protection.

All this exciting news about fibres positive effects on heart disease, type 2 diabetes, depression, dementia, and cancer is worthy of a 21-gun salute, yet fibre just doesnt get the respect it deserves.

My mission is to change that.

As the self-appointed Queen of Fibre, I want you to start adding more fibre to your day, every day. No matter what your eating style is, Im here to help make that happen, one tip, one ingredient, one recipe at a time.

Incorporate fibre into your eating style and embrace the power of peace and love.

Wishing you all

peace, love, and fibre