How to get enough fiber for a day?
 

Hi, I have been diet for a while but not really pay attention to how much protein or carb or fiber I eat a day. I just focus on cals. Recently, I pay attention to it and realize that I didn't have enough fiber.
On day that I eat a lot of vegetable I have roughly about 11g - 15 g is max. Today I eat 1 and 1/2 cup of dark green leaf, 1.2 banana, rice, bread. Total FD said I have 5.4 g of fiber. :(
How can I get 25g of fiber a day? What kind of food should I eat to get more fiber?
Any idea? I will appreciate.
Mai

My fiber usually comes from various veggies (especially broccoli), fruits (especially pears, apples, raspberries), nuts, bran, oatmeal, popcorn, brown rice, cereal, and whole wheat pasta.

Beans and legumes have a TON of fiber, but I abhor them...all of them. If you like them, it would be an easy way for you to boost your fiber grams per day.

I make it a point to get to 25 grams a day. A high fiber diet has a lot of benefits for your overall health.

Apples have 3-5 grams of fiber each, depending on size. You can also get lots of granola bars that have added fiber.

Hi lastri,
I agree, it can be hard to get enough fiber, especially when you are trying to keep the carbs under control. It is a real battle for me. I almost always get my recommended veggies and fruit, but even then can't reach 25g without some sort of supplement.

Beans, and other legumes like edemame (soybeans) have lots of fiber and since (unlike Cassie) I love them I tend to rely heavily on beans. Oatmeal is a great source, although it is usually a breakfast treat I skip when I'm trying to drop pounds.

I will often resort to supplements like metamucile. Staves of the hungrys for a while, adds 5 to 10 g fiber, helps lower bad cholesterol, and keeps the lower GI tract running smooth. I also use Fiber One products as sweet treats rather than a cookie or other sweet (assuming I have room in the calorie balance).

Spend some time search the grocery shelves. You may come up with some unique ideas of your own!

Pam

I googled the difference between FIBER and FIBRE and it's the same like TIRE/TYRE. Just a spelling variation.

My fibre comes from wholegrain bread, fruit (1 banana has 3.5g) Quorn (veggie meat) has 6g in 100g and from homemade sauce of onions and tomatoes. It all adds up. Also, consider if you have some custom foods, maybe you didn't enter fibre when you were creating them.

I also struggle with a low fiber diet, so I tend to supplement my diet with Metamucil products in order to get my daily recommended amounts.

Thank you all for your advices.
I guess I didn't eat enough whole grain, bean, or fruits. I would try a little harder.
I take some psyllium occasionally, but I don't want to depend on it.
Muna, I think you might be right. I should add all the things on the label too.

Thank you so much.
Mai

Fiber sources
 

I would say that Fiber supplements are generally unnecessary as there are plenty of foods that will give you all that you need. As for 25 grams that is the generally accepted RDA, but most people need more. You don't want to go nuts with it as too much fiber is unhealthy, but 40-50 grams is okay.

Most days I'm between 35-50 grams. what I typically use is:

Oatmeal — two servings, I use Bob's Red Mill steelcut oats or 10-grain hot cereal.

Multi-grain wraps — some are 10-12 grams per wrap for 100 calories

Lentils — add a little spice to them and they're great, and 10-12 grams

Usually, add one of these things to the diet each day and this is about a third of my target to get over 35 grams.

After that, whole grain cereals, veggies and fruits.

As budget is a concern for most of us, the wraps are a little pricey; oatmeal and lentils are dirt cheap. Good luck with it.

I find cereal really helps with my fiber. I choose a tasty high fiber cereal (Corn Bran is good) and mix it with some Allbran/Fiber-First type cereal (my husband calls it "worms").

I also like to mix in some ground up fiber cereal in pasta sauce.

Hope this gives you some ideas.

Kate

beans, cereals, (check the label) fruits, vegetables, oatmeal, mixed in with ground beef or turkey. Some fiber supplements, like metamucil or fiberall, or benefiber, this gives you an extra water boost when mixed in water.

I have been doing something unusual lately: drinking my oat bran fiber. Weird, huh? I bought some oat bran fiber to add to fruit smoothies. Didn't do that - instead, I just put the fiber in a big jug of water in the refrigerator. When I need to drink something cold, I shake it up really well, pour some in a glass and drink it (no sweeteners, I just kind of like the taste!).

I have hit upon this 'oat water' instead of buying 'oat milk' which is much richer and tastier, available in the supermarket along with nut milks and soybean milk, etc. I pour this oaty water on cereal in the morning and never miss the dairy I used to use for cereal. I do like dairy and still eat yogurt, cheese and kefir. The oat water just moistens the cereal enough to make it wet and crunchy but without any distracting taste. The oat water has hardly any taste at all, but there is fiber there - I can see it in the sludge that accumulates at the bottom of the glass if I don't swirl the liquid or stir it when I'm drinking.

Happened upon this accidentally, don't know of anyone else who does it!

try this for one day:
Breakfast to include at least a cup of fresh berries - rasberries are super stars in fiber.
Lunch to include a large (at least 5 cups greens) salad - spinach is great.
Dinner to include a couple of cups of some type of green vegetable - e.g. 2 cups broccoli.
AND at least 1/2 cup beans.
(Total of the above is 275 calories; fiber 25.8)

As mentioned, Broccoli is a pretty great way to get fiber. 3 cups of broccoli a day will give you appx. 7 grams of fiber, 7 grams of protein, tons of vitamins and all for under 100 cals!!!

GG crackers. They are very sturdy, somewhat bland (not salty) crackers sold at Whole Foods, but cheaper on Amazon.com if you are in the U.S. and can use the Amazon grocery department. You can order them online from the website (the product is Norwegian and there's a U.S. distributor).

These things, with some tuna salad, or peanut butter, or spread with salsa and cream cheese (the rye taste of the cracker doesn't interfere): a small cracker has 12 calories and 5 grams of fiber. Amazing - not that they have so much bran (they are mainly bran) but that they are so mild in taste and are so sturdy.

They are extremely filling - be forewarned. They are expensive, but cheaper on Amazon, I think. I haven't ordered from other sources, so I don't know about that.

Lentils are my favorite source of fiber, and I add black beans to a pasta salad, just to pump up the fiber. I watch fiber in my food log and most days, I have around 40 grams! Protein is low in fiber so I try to get enough protein but not at the expense of fiber. The more vegetables and whole grains, the more likely you will be getting fiber in your diet. However, a salad is just not enough (lettuce is not high on the list of fibrous foods). A cup of shredded Romaine lettuce has 1 gram of fiber. But - it's very low in calories, too.

I am a very picky eater, so I take Fiber Choice Sugar Free Strawberry chewables and then a bowl of Fiber Plus cereal a day. It works well it seems, or at least for me anyways.

Bread and Tortillas
 

Hi,
A lot of bread and tortillas have added fiber these days - some tortillas have up to 12 grams of fiber per tortilla, and only about 100 - 140 calories. The "Dave's Killer Bread" brand of bread has up to 6 g of fiber per slice. It is very filling.

Oh, and Kashi cereal also has a lot of fiber - I think about 9 grams per serving, and it's really yummy.

Good luck!

Fiber One cereal here. It tastes like cardboard, but it's a huge boost. I slice half a banana into it, then eat the rest of the banana after the cereal is gone.

I realize I'm posting this months after the last reply, but one of my "tricks" to adding fibre is chickpeas (aka garbanzo beans). They are high in fibre and protein, so they help me stay feeling full. (1 cup = 270 cal, 12 gr fibre (almost 50% of RDA!) and 15 gr protein).

I make a chickpea salad with a reduced fat Italian dressing (and add in some chopped cherry tomatoes, chopped steamed cauliflower, and avocado).

I also make my own hummus. Its really easy to do, and if you use some of the cooking water (or liquid from the can), then you can really cut back on the amount of oil you have to use. I will then use the hummus as a dip for carrots, celery & other veggies.

M.

Good tip, meking703. :)

I'll have to give it a try.

Some other ideas for high fiber foods that I didn't see above are edamame (I especially like it dry roasted with sea salt, found at most grocery stores, 5 g per serving), blackberries (7.6 g for 1 cup), and ground flax seed (4 g per serving, added to smoothies, yogurt, etc).

I just discovered a few hours ago that a Starbuck's Skinny Mocha has 5 grams in a venti... not sure where it's hiding, but it was a nice surprise when I entered it as a custom food after trying it for the first time. :)

This is a good subject! I second the poster MunaAmin who says to make sure you are entering your food correctly and utilize the custom foods. A lot of general issue products have a little more fiber in them than some of the fitday generalized foods state.

I get extra fiber in my diet with Nature's Own Fiber Wheat Bread. It is a soft bread that doesn't have a particle board consistency! Just two slices of it is 10g! I also buy Thomas' Triple Health English Muffins, 100 cal per muffin, low sodium, 6 g fiber per muffin. I use these for hamburger buns, sloppy joes... They are filling and taste great. I buy Rozoni Smart Taste Pastas, they also have a high fiber content for pasta. 5g per serving!

Just read those labels, utilize the custom foods in your food log, shop in the produce department and eat at least one fruit or vegetable in the morning, get your mindset on increasing your fiber from the time you first eat! Then by lunch, maybe get a vegetable and a fruit, dinner, 4-5 fruits and vegetables... I like to mix some black beans with my mixed vegetables! That works too! Smash up cooked black or navy beans and add them to spaghetti sauce! Smashed up beans can go into just about any sauce... just match the color, and you are there! I smash up northern beans and add them to mac and cheese... :)