questions...

hello i have a couple of quesdions just wondering if anybody can help me (i'm 16, 125lbs ish and 5"5, and just aiming to be healthier) ...

how much fibre do i need a day? (everywhere i look says different things)

does eating protein rich foods before i work out do me good? if it does what does it do? (i heard somwhere that it is good to just wondering if i should??)

thankyou! :)

You need about 25g of fibre minimum a day. Some people can tolerate more. But it's not just the overall number that counts! You need to make sure you're getting enough of both soluble and insoluble fibre - Insoluble (the fibre that forms bulk and regulates acidity and PH in the gut) and soluble (the fibre that helps regulate blood sugar and cholesterol). Too much of one or the other and again - bloating, gas and diarrhea or constipation can come along with!

Insoluble fibre examples:
 -- Whole-wheat pastas, breads, etc
 -- Quinoa
 -- Brown rice
 -- Bran products
 -- Fruit and vegetable skins, such as potato skins, tomato skins, plum/prune skins, apple skins, pear skins
 -- Nuts and seeds, particularly flax, almonds, brazil nuts and walnuts

Soluble fibre examples:
 -- Oats
 -- Rye
 -- Barley
 -- Potatoes of all varieties
 -- Psyillium husks
 -- Legumes and pulses, especially lentils, garbanzo beans (chickpeas), kidney beans, pinto beans and soybeans

And pretty much all fruits and vegetables. Particularly raspberries, plums, bananas, sweetcorn, prunes, apples, pears, blackberries, broccoli, cauliflower, brussels, asparagus, artichokes and dried fruit. Again, never introduce lots more fibre without drinking enough water to compensate. There is a more detailed list of fibre sources here for future reference.