Fiber, Montezuma, and Canned Goods

Fiber seems to be right up there with protein in the healthy eating buzzword list.  Every diet has a recommendation for fiiber intake-- 25, 30, even 40 grams of fiber per day.  And that would be phenomenal, but before you run out to stock up on Benefiber or Psyllium supplements, consider this: If you were just starting to exercise, would you start with the Boston Marathon?  No, you would work up to it. S-l-o-w-l-y.  Same with fiber.

Suddenly jumping up from an average American diet of 15 grams of fiber to 40 grams of fiber a day is akin to scrubbing your colon with an SOS pad and packing it with explosives.  Build up to your target number a little at a time, unless you live alone and have a home office. If you move too fast, your spouse will move to the guest room, your kids will call you out in public, and your cubicle neighbors will request a transfer.To Colorado.

Having said that, here is a low fat, high fiber, healthy, vegan way to enjoy Mexican food.  I have no name for it, so we'll just call it the:

Really Yummy Colon-Cleansing Taco

start with two of these tortillas:

Chick Pea Flour Tortilla
 2 tbsp olive oil or sunflower oil
1/2 cup chick pea (garbanzo bean) flour
1/2 tsp sea salt
2/3 c. water

Whisk the flour, salt and water together to make a thin batter. Heat the pan and coat with olive oil. Pour the batter into the pan and roll it around to coat like you are making a giant pancake. Cover and cook on medium high heat for 2 minutes. Uncover and cook 5 more minutes, then flip it over. Cook another 5 minutes on the other side.Keep one warm in a 200 degree oven while you make the second one.

Now heat:

1 can of Amy's brand Organic Refried Black Beans (Some of you may find this disappointing. Canned refried beans? But do not waste your time going through all of the monotonous steps of making refried beans yourself. First of all, do you want to spend two days soaking, cooking and re-cooking beans just to make a taco? And do you want to risk the outcome, knowing that this brand of beans has no added sugar, no lard, no animal fat at all, and tastes good? No, you don't. You want to make a taco.)


In a separate bowl, mix:

1  14-oz. can petite cut diced tomatoes (Ditto with the canned thing, but canned tomatoes are one of the BEST things you can keep in your pantry.)
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
1 tsp crushed red pepper
pinch of salt


To assemble the taco, spread half the refried beans on one half of each tortilla.  Top with tomato mixture. And finish with:


a handful of baby greens, such as arugula, chicory, or mesclun salad mix. I don't recommend baby spinach, because you want something with a little more bite to it.

1 mashed avocado


If you have any beans and tomatoes left over, mix them together and stick the mixture in the fridge. You can throw it in a skillet or the microwave for a quick breakfast tomorrow.


I am not a dietitian. I have not done the math. I cannot tell you how many grams of fiber this dish has. But it has a lot. Eating these too frequently may cause ...um...secondary symptoms related to better health. Look on the bright side. Your family might give you a little more alone time and you just might get that corner office you've always wanted. 

Let me reiterate my fiber warning in a way that's easy to remember.  Several years ago in Cancun, a friend of mine bought an antacid to counter the effects of too much tequila.  She subsequently ended up with a week-long case of Montezuma's revenge.  On the very last day of our vacation, she realized she had not been taking an antacid. She had been taking a laxative.

There is no earthly reason the laxatives should even be legal in Mexico.