This holiday season it may be wise to find simple ways to increase fiber in your diet (like adding IQed) while still enjoying all the festive holiday foods and treats!

New research published in the journal Microbiome found a low fiber diet impairs​ cognition,  The researchers noted that age related cognitive decline is observed across the developed world and that low fiber intake is a common feature of diets in these countries as well. The study notes the average fiber intake in the US and UK is about 15g/day, far below the World Health Organization recommended level of 25-35 g/day. 

The study found fiber deficient mice performed poorly on the nest building test (a ‘daily activity’) and did not remember the location or order of objects as well as their higher fiber peers. The low fiber group also showed degenerative changes in a particular region of the hippocampus as shown by transmission electron microscopy. And certain proteins indicative of neuroinflammation were higher in the low fiber group.

IQed

In Addition To Natural Soluble Fiber, IQed Provide Per Serving Over 22 Vitamins And Minerals, High-Quality Protein, Omega 3s, And All The Essential Amino Acids Are All Natural, Non-GMO, Free of MSG And Salicylates. 

Here are some more simple ways to increase fiber this holiday season from ManaMD

1. Serve plenty of fruits and vegetables. Maintain your traditions, but add some produce. Do you make gelatin salad? Add berries along with those marshmallows. Add a green salad to the meal and make fruit salad an option for dessert. Your guests will probably be happy to have those options.
2. Add nuts to casseroles. Grated walnuts are a tastier and healthier stand-in for breadcrumbs. Sliced almonds will perk up your dressing. Sweet potato casserole is even more delicious with chopped pecans.
3. Pick whole-grain breads. If you love your regular hot rolls, add oat muffins or whole wheat buns as a second choice.
4. Use almond meal in baked goods in place of some flour. You can substitute almond meal cup for cup in cakes and cookies. Try replacing one third of your flour with almond meal, or check out our all-nut cake recipe below.
5. Add fruit, vegetables, and nuts to dressing and stuffing. Use your regular recipe, and stir in chopped celery, cranberries, mushrooms, chopped apples, diced onions, bell pepper strips, and your favorite chopped nuts. If you bake dressing in a casserole dish, consider making one pan “plain” and gussy the other one up with fiber-rich goodies.
6. Choose fruit or nut pies over cream pies. Pecan pie, apple pie with nut topping, pear and cranberry tart, pumpkin pie — all these traditional fall choices contain good amounts of fiber. Try recipes that use lots of fruit instead of canned filling.
7. Make nut-based crusts and toppings. Explore recipes that use nuts instead of or along with flour. Be sure to let guests know there are nuts in your desserts if you aren’t sure about allergies.
8. Add grated apples or carrots to cakes. These ingredients add moisture and sweetness as well as fiber.
9. Don’t peel those fruits and veggies. Unpeeled apples in your Waldorf Salad or unpeeled potatoes in your roast potatoes look and taste great!
10. Replace sour cream dips with guacamole or hummus. These popular dips bring you 15 grams of fiber for hummus and 8 grams for guacamole in a typical serving. Classic onion dip has zero grams of fiber.

During this busy holiday season  also continue to use IQed which not only contains soluble fiber it all the essential nutrients you require daily.  In addition, to all the nutrients your body requires daily IQed was honored to receive the prestigious Clean Label Project Purity award. from the Clean Label Project, a national nonprofit focused on health and transparency in labeling.   The certification validates IQed's aim to not only comply with but exceed the strictest standard for harmful contaminants, chemicals and additives: what appears on the label is exactly what the product contains.  

The nonprofit Clean Label Project tests products in an accredited analytical chemistry laboratory for 130 harmful environmental and industrial contaminants and toxins including all the heavy metals such as arsenic, lead, mercury as well as antibiotic or pesticide residues. IQed was free of any heavy metal contamination now relatively common across the food supply

So this holiday season enjoy the festivities, food, fun and IQed.  Here is a smart cookie recipe

IQed Peanut Butter Smart Cookie

Ingredients

• 1 Scoop Chocolate or Vanilla IQed
• 1 Tbs. Natural Peanut Butter
•  Raw Honey To Taste

Options:

You can use maple or chocolate syrup instead of raw honey.  Raw honey, however, is a natural prebiotic.  Optional to dip or sprinkle the cookies with nuts, coconut flakes, chocolate or peanut butter chips, powdered sugar, or sprinkles.  The amounts and ingredients are flexible.  The recipe is for one cookie but if you want to make a few at once you can double or triple the recipe.  If your child is only using one scoop a day, use this same recipe to make 2 smaller cookies and serve to them twice a day.  This smart cookie is rich in natural nutrients including 22 vitamins and minerals, soluble fiber and Omega 3s, healthy ayurvedic botanicals, and complete meal and vitamin replacement.  Have fun with these, and let your child help!

Lisa Geng

Author, Founder, and President of The Cherab Foundation , Coauthor The Late Talker book, Mom Conceptualist For IQed

Lisa Geng got her start as a designer and patented inventor in the fashion, toy, and film industries, but after the early diagnosis of her young children with apraxia and ADHD she entered the world of nonprofit, pilot studies, and advocacy. L Lisa currently holds three patents and patents pending on IQed nutritional composition and is a co-author of a study published in a National Institute of Health-based, peer-reviewed medical journal.Results of a Consumer Survey on the Effectiveness of a Nutritional Blend Reported on Autism Spectrum Disorder Symptoms, Apraxia, and Other Conditions Involving Motor and Speech Delays. which showed 92% of respondents reported positive changes upon using IQed. Improvements in concentration, energy, motor skills, and speech