Granola

1. Preheat oven to 160⁰C. Put all dry ingredients in a large bowl and mix well. Add wet ingredients, mix until dry ingredients are well coated.
2. Spread mixture on 1-2 baking trays lined with baking paper. Bake for 1 hour. Mix around occasionally to break up lumps, and turn tray to cook granola evenly (you may need to reduce heat or cover loosely with foil if browning too much).
3. Remove granola from oven and allow to totally cool before storing in airtight jar.
4. Serve ideally with yoghurt and/or your preferred milk (exclude dairy for dairy-free option) and fresh or stewed fruit for breakfast. For added fibre, choose fruit such as a pear, apple or raspberries.

By Jean Hailes naturopath and herbalist Sandra Villella

Eating a high-fibre diet, along with drinking plenty of water, helps you to avoid constipation and straining your pelvic floor muscles.

And while breakfast ‘cereal’ can often provide a good portion of the recommended daily intake of dietary fibre, many commercial high-fibre cereals are about as tasty as hay, while others can be low in fibre and high in added sugar.

Not this granola. It has a base of fibre-rich rolled oats and my three favourite seeds that I recommend for helping to keep the bowels regular – linseeds, sunflower seeds and pepitas.

It is flavoured simply with cinnamon and vanilla and sweetened with maple syrup. The end product is a delicious mix of high-fibre seeds, nuts and grain with a crunchy toasted texture and no added oil.