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What foods can you eat to get more fibre if you are allergic to whole wheat?

It is true that wheat bran found in whole wheat breads and cereals and 100 per cent bran cereals is an excellent source of fibre. In fact, just one-half cup of bran cereal supplies 12 grams of fibre – half a day's worth for women. But if you are allergic to wheat, there are other ways to increase your fibre intake.

• Legumes such as kidney beans, chickpeas and black beans are excellent sources of fibre. For example, ¾ cup of cooked lentils and black beans each have 11 grams of fibre.
• Oat bran is also rich in fibre. One cup of cooked oat bran cereal has 6 grams of fibre.
• Eating seven to 10 daily servings of fruit and vegetables also helps increase your fibre intake. Some of the highest fibre fruits include pears, apples, blackberries and raspberries. Higher fibre vegetables include snow peas, green peas, Swiss chard and sweet potatoes.

I am a 57 year old woman. Can you please tell me the basic vitamin and mineral supplements I should make sure I am getting?

After age 50, calcium requirements increase to 1,500 milligrams, the equivalent of five cups of milk. Most women I see in my practice don't get hear this amount from diet alone and need to rely on a calcium supplement. Depending on your diet, you may need a 500 milligram calcium supplement once or twice daily. If you take Synthroid, a medication for hypothyroidism, make sure you take calcium and the medication 4 hours apart.

All Canadians should also be taking 1000 IU of vitamin D each day in the fall and winter to help reduce the risk of certain cancers. If you're over 50, you should take this year-round since our skin becomes less efficient at producing vitamin D from sunlight as we age.

I also think it's a wise idea to take a basic multivitamin and mineral supplement to ensure your meeting your daily requirements for most nutrients. As hard as we try, most people don't follow the food guide to the letter.

What does 1500 milligrams of sodium look like? I don't eat packaged foods but I do add salt when cooking.

From the age of nine to 50, Canadians require 1,500 milligrams of sodium each day for health. With age, our body becomes more sensitive to the blood pressure-rising effect of sodium and daily requirements drop to 1,300 milligrams for adults aged 50 to 70, and 1,200 milligrams for people over 70.

1,500 milligrams of sodium is equivalent to just slightly more than one-half teaspoon of table salt. For most adults, the daily upper sodium limit is 2,300 milligrams, the amount in one teaspoon of table salt. If you're over 50 or have high blood pressure you should consume less.

I have had low iron all my life. What can I do to help my body absorb more iron?

The richest sources of iron come from beef, fish, poultry, pork and lamb. These are known as "heme" sources of iron, the type that can be absorbed and utilized the most efficiently by your body. The rest of our iron comes from plant foods such as dried fruits, whole grains, leafy green vegetables, nuts, seeds, and legumes. These are called "nonheme" sources of iron and the body is much less efficient in absorbing and using this type of iron. There are a few ways to enhance your body's absorption of non-heme iron:

• If you are not a vegetarian, include a small portion of animal food with your meal. Meat, poultry and fish contain a special component, called MFP factor, that promotes the absorption of nonheme iron from other foods eaten with them.
• Including vitamin C in a plant-based meal can enhance the body's absorption of nonheme iron by as much as fourfold. The acidity of the vitamin converts iron to a form that's ready for absorption. Citrus fruit, red pepper, broccoli, tomatoes and strawberries are excellent sources of vitamin C.
• If you take an iron supplement to replenish your iron stores, do not take it with a calcium supplement or a calcium rich food like milk; take iron at a separate time, preferably at bedtime. Calcium and iron minerals compete with one another for absorption across the intestinal tract.
• Drink tea between meals, rather than with meals. Natural compounds in tea called tannins can bind with iron and make it unavailable for absorption. Or add milk or lemon to tea since both inactivate its iron binding properties.

Is there any truth to the advice to only eat fruit on an empty stomach?

No. The supposed rationale for this advice is that if you combine fruit with other foods, the whole meal will not be digested and absorbed. Instead it will rot and ferment in your stomach and you won't get the beneficial nutrients. Some claims go even further to say that combining foods produces toxins in your stomach that cause weight gain. There is not one single piece of evidence to support this notion. Eating fruit with a meal is perfectly fine – your body digests and absorbs its nutrients just fine!