Dietary Fiber Intake: What is fiber and how much should I be eating? How can I increase my fiber intake?

Admin
Jul 17
4 min read

Updated: Aug 22

What is Dietary Fiber?

Dietary fiber is a type of carbohydrate found in plant-based foods that your body can’t digest or absorb (1). Unlike other carbs, fiber passes through your digestive system mostly intact, and it plays several important roles in health (1).

According to the review study, "Dietary fibre in gastrointestinal health and disease" by Gill et al., adequate fiber intake supports digestive health and regular bowel movements (2)
Reduces risk of heart disease and type 2 diabetes (3)
Helps manage weight by promoting a feeling of fullness
Contributes to a healthy gut microbiome (1)

What are the Different Types of Dietary Fiber?

Soluble fiber – form a gel-like substance. Soluble fiber can assist with lowering cholesterol levels, regulating blood sugars, and feeding beneficial gut bacteria

Sources: Oats, beans, lentils, apples, citrus fruits, barley

Insoluble fiber – adds bulk to stool and helps food move through the digestive tract, promoting regularity.

Sources: Whole grains, nuts, seeds, potatoes (with skin), cauliflower, green beans

What is the Goal Intake for Dietary Fiber?

According to The Importance of Dietary Fiber for Metabolic Health, "Unfortunately, nearly 19 out of 20 Americans do not consume the minimum recommended amount of fiber each day" (4).

According to Health Benefits of Dietary Fiber, "Dietary fiber intake provides many health benefits. However, average fiber intakes for US children and adults are less than half of the recommended levels." (5)

The National Academy of Medicine's daily fiber recommendations for adults:

Sex	Age	Fiber Goal (gm)/day
Men	Older than age 50	30+
Men	Age 50 or younger	38+
Women	Older than age 50	21+
Women	Age 50 or younger	25+

Putting Fiber Content in Perspective: How much fiber is in the food we're eating?

Food	Serving Size	Fiber Content (grams)
Raspberries	1 cup	8.0
Pear	1 medium	5.5
Apple (w/ skin)	1 medium	4.5
Banana	1 medium	3
Green peas	1 cup	9
Potato (w skin)	1 medium	4
Cauliflower, raw	1 cup, chopped	2
Spaghetti (whole wheat)	1 cup (cooked)	6
Quinoa	1 cup (cooked)	5
Chia Seeds	1 ounce	10
Oatmeal (instant, cooked)	1 cup (cooked)	5
Almonds	1 ounce (23 nuts)	3.5
Baked beans	1 cup	10

Where can I find high-fiber recipes? Check out Hleap Nutrition's Resources for more ideas:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hleapnutrition/

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Recipe tab: https://www.hleapnutrition.com/recipes (internal link here)

Hleap Nutrition's Top Three Favorite High-Fiber Recipes

VANILLA CHIA PUDDING

Ingredients:

Fairlife skim milk, 1 cup (13 gm PRO) or if you prefer plant based, try soy milk for extra protein (7 gm/cup)
Chia Seeds, 1/4 cup
Vanilla extract, 1 tsp
Maple syrup (if needed depending on the sweetness of protein powder)
Optional berries for topping

Directions:

Mix everything (except for fruit) thoroughly (or blend) and then leave in the fridge overnight.
The next morning you'll have a high fiber pudding at the ready. Top with fresh strawberries or blueberries for added texture and sweetness! If you blend all the ingredients during prep you'll be left with a smooth pudding consistency. Otherwise, it'll be more like a rice pudding consistency.

This recipe (before added fruit) contains 17 gm dietary fiber!!!

HIGH-FIBER CHIA JAM

Ingredients:

Frozen Berries, 4 cups
Maple Syrup, 1/4 cup
Chia seeds, 1/2 cup

Directions:

Heat berries in a pot on low heat until fully defrosted. Mash with the back of a spatula until mushed into pieces that are as small as possible
Mix in the maple syrup
Remove from the heat and mix in the chia seeds
Leave it on the counter until cool, then move to a Tupperware and store it in the fridge. After letting the chia seeds absorb the liquid for a few hours you’ll have a tasty high fiber jam!!!

DENSE BEAN SALAD

The concept behind this recipe trend is preparing a balanced high fiber meal that can sit in the fridge for a few days without getting nasty. This chopped up veggie and bean combo sits in the dressing in the fridge and gets tastier every day without getting soggy at all. I ate this for 4 days without getting sick of it or getting the ick. I didn't follow a specific recipe, just chopped up a bunch of ingredients that I didn't think would get soggy:

Ingredients:

Salad:

Green Cabbage
Red bell pepper
Mozzarella ball (always better than pre-shredded)
Heart of Palm (1 can, rinsed and drained)
Avocado
Radishes
Fresh herbs - I used dill, parsley, scallions, and cilantro
Beans of choice - I used one can of Great Northern Beans, but you could use any combo of 1-2 cans of beans

Dressing:

Fresh herbs - I used dill, parsley, and cilantro
Rice wine vinegar
Avocado oil
Salt
Black pepper
Garlic powder
Tarragon
Mustard, tiny but for emulsifying, ~1 tsp

Directions:

Rinse and strain beans.
While beans strain and dry, chop all ingredients finely.
Blend all ingredients for the dressing and pour over all the ingredients and mix.
Store in the fridge and enjoy for the next few days!

References

Barber TM, Kabisch S, Pfeiffer AFH, Weickert MO. The Health Benefits of Dietary Fibre. Nutrients. 2020 Oct 21;12(10):3209. doi: 10.3390/nu12103209. PMID: 33096647; PMCID: PMC7589116. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33096647/
Gill, S.K., Rossi, M., Bajka, B. et al. Dietary fibre in gastrointestinal health and disease. Nat Rev Gastroenterol Hepatol 18, 101–116 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41575-020-00375-4
Kay RM. Dietary fiber. J Lipid Res. 1982 Feb;23(2):221-42. PMID: 6281350. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/6281350/
Bulsiewicz WJ. The Importance of Dietary Fiber for Metabolic Health. Am J Lifestyle Med. 2023 Apr 12;17(5):639-648. doi: 10.1177/15598276231167778. PMID: 37711348; PMCID: PMC10498976. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37711348/#full-view-affiliation-1
Anderson JW, Baird P, Davis RH Jr, Ferreri S, Knudtson M, Koraym A, Waters V, Williams CL. Health benefits of dietary fiber. Nutr Rev. 2009 Apr;67(4):188-205. doi: 10.1111/j.1753-4887.2009.00189.x. PMID: 19335713. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19335713/