It reduces the risk of heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes and colon cancer – while boosting the health of our gut microbiome and brain. Yet we all eat far too little fibre. Here is the no-fuss guide to getting your 30g a day

What is the leading risk factor for diet-related ill health? Ultra-processed food? Too much salt, sugar or fat? According to a systematic analysis published in 2022, it is our low intake of wholegrains. Wholegrains contain B vitamins, folic acid, omega-3 fats, protein, antioxidants and micronutrients. And, crucially, they are packed with fibre.

“Fibre feels like the forgotten nutrient,” says Dr Samantha Gill, a specialist gastroenterology dietitian for the British Dietetic Association. “It has a reputation for being bland, boring and tasting like cardboard. On top of that, fibre is often related to bloating and flatulence.”

I spent years desperate for help and exhausted from lack of sleep. But the condition is badly misunderstood – even by doctors

I’d always known something was wrong with my legs. When I was a teenager, my best friend and I shared her full-sized bed – she would wake me up, giggling: “Lying next to you is like trying to sleep through an earthquake!” Now I’m 45, and my boyfriend says the same thing.

I have Restless Legs Syndrome (RLS), a condition that affects up to 14% of the global population, according to the Restless Legs Syndrome Foundation. Every night, I feel an uncontrollable urge to move my legs. I get up and walk – a trusty but temporary solution. It stops. I lie back down. It starts again. I try to ignore it, but I can’t. The movements persist in arrhythmic cycles for hours. By bedtime I’m exasperated, in tears. I just want to sleep.

One study found athletes were three times as likely to leak as women who did little or no exercise. But why does this happen – and can you prevent it?

On a wall in a gym in south London, someone has written: “PB [personal best] with a bit of wee.” Who could have written it? A runner? A woman doing CrossFit who has been jumping rope? A powerlifter? Evidence shows that all these activities can trigger higher rates of urinary incontinence (UI) in women than other activities. (Men’s anatomy is different, so they are less prone to the problem.)

“Women pee. In my gym you see it all the time,” says Emily Westray, a 27-year-old civil servant in Sheffield who can bench press 75kg, deadlift 130kg and squat 115kg, while only weighing 57kg herself. She used to be a diver and gymnast and got into powerlifting two years ago. At first, she had no problem. And according to usual preconceptions, she shouldn’t have. She’s young and has never had children. Incontinence is supposed to affect women who have gone through childbirth, and the middle-aged and menopausal.