When you or your child are constipated, you strain to pass small, hard stools from your body. A low-fiber diet increases your risk of becoming constipated, while a fiber-rich diet along with plenty of fluids can prevent and treat this painful condition. Kashi Go Lean! hot and cold cereals offer high-fiber options for increasing the amount of fiber in your diet and promoting normal bowel function.
Ingredients
Kashi sells four types of cold Go Lean! cereal, including Go Lean! Crisp Toasted Berry Crumble, Go Lean Crunch!, Go Lean Crunch Honey Almond Flax! and Go Lean! original. The company also offers two flavors of Go Lean! hot cereal: Go Lean! Creamy Truly Vanilla and Go Lean! Hearty Honey Cinnamon. These cereals derive much of their fiber from a proprietary ingredient identified on the Nutrition Facts label as Kashi Seven Whole Grains and Sesame Blend. This combination incorporates whole-grain varieties of hard red winter wheat, oats, barley, triticale, long grain brown rice, buckwheat and sesame seeds. Some flavors gain additional fiber from whole flaxseeds, berries and almonds.
Fiber Content
The Honey Almond Flax version of Kashi Go Lean! and other flavors of the cold cereal have 8 g of fiber in a 1 cup serving. Half of that fiber is soluble fiber, while the remaining 4 g is insoluble fiber. The hot versions of Kashi Go Lean! contain 7.8 g of fiber in a serving.
Effects of Fiber
Dietary fiber plays a number of important roles in maintaining bowel health. It combines with water in your intestines to make your stools softer and bulkier. When your stools are softer and larger, they pass through your bowels more rapidly and lower your risk of developing constipation. Fiber also promotes normal bowel movements by increasing the activity of microorganisms in your intestines. When you eat Kashi cereal, drink plenty of juice, milk, water or other liquids to combine with the fiber.
Expert Insight
The Cleveland Clinic recommends whole grain cereals that contain at least 3 to 5 g of fiber in a serving to promote normal bowel function and Go Lean! cereals exceed this standard. Kashi Go Lean! cereals identify whole-grain oats as their first ingredient, meeting American Heart Association recommendations for cereal products that list whole grains as their first ingredient.
