Fiber - How much is recommended?
 

I know I haven't been getting enough fibre lately so I have been trying to track it.

Using All-Bran Cereal as an example, according to the Nutrition Label it has 12 grams of Fibre or 48% of Daily Value, but when I look at the RDA graph in Fitday it shows 32%. Which is correct?

I tend to eat a fair bit of fruit, apples, pears, oranges and I have recently added the All-Bran cereal but I am still coming up short. Can I please get some suggestions on Low-Calorie foods that are high in fibre?

The general recommendation for fiber is 25 g per day for women, 30 for men.

My fiber usually comes from apples, pears, strawberries, other fruits and vegetables, nuts (though that's not a low cal option) and whole wheat bread/crackers/tortillas. There are high fiber options for these out there, if you look and read the wrappers. Beans and legumes also have a lot of fiber. If I'm low for the day, I'll have some fiber cereal or a fiber bar, though those aren't my preferred options because of the sugar and additives.

I got some bran crackers at Whole Foods, very high in fiber. They are called GG crackers and I'm not sure they are in all the WF stores. They're very filling, have 12 calories in a cracker, and lots of fiber (at least 5 grams of fiber in a cracker).
They're available on Amazon, but cheaper there. Pretty tasteless but OK when you spread them with peanut butter.

Another option is just adding some oat bran or wheat bran to your morning cereal. Count that in fitday, along with your cereal, eat fresh fruits and vegetables and you've got a good start, fiber-wise.

I really do eat those crackers and my daily fiber is often over 50 grams.

For low cal and high fiber, try spinach and other leafy greens like collards, swiss chard, and rappini.

Other vegetables high in fiber and low in calories are broccoli, artichokes, asparagus, cauliflower, eggplant and pumpkin (even canned).

Plus, the benefit of getting your fiber from vegetables (vs supplements, or grain producs with supplemented fiber (aka labed "high fiber")) is that the fiber is naturally combined with the water your body needs to handle the fiber!

(I get about 70 grams of fiber a day and don't take supplemented fiber, nor supplemented products.)

Too much fiber??
 

Is it possible to have too much fiber?

I recently tried increasing beans i.e.black beans, garbanzo, etc. to one or two servings. They are high in fiber and protein. Fat free refried, an be mixed with fat free sour cream or yogurt to make a dip for low fat snack such as pretzels.

I have diverticuli, so have to be careful of certain fibers. I try to limit strawberries, raspberries corn and celery. I can have a little, but too much I get a belly ache. If you have prblems, just inatroduce fiber gradually and then keep it at the recommendations. Changing over to the right foods all at once can be difficult. I take benefiber every day also, at the recommendation of my doctor. I mix the flavored stuff in a bottle of water. Believe it or not, it has DECREASED the number of times I get diarrhea.

I have stomach issues (which remain undiagnosed as tests are inconclusive - two docs have told me I have a form of IBS), and if I eat too much fiber (or the wrong type), I tend to have to go to the bathroom 5-6 times per day. I can almost always tell when the fiber is the culprit, but I've been dealing with this problem since I was a wee one ;)

I don't know how someone without stomach problems might deal with "too much" fiber, but I hear tell that you'll have a lot of BMs.

Speak to your doctor if you have a specific problem, but generally the recommendation is to increase fiber in the diet slowly. I think with fiber, you need to judge whether its too much for you based on how you feel. I feel great at 70+ grams of fiber a day. I actually had problems and IBS 'like' symptoms (never went to the dr., though, for a diagnosis) at a time in my life when I was eating only ~20 grams (if that). (I've been on fitday for many years, and have been tracking.)
_________________
Female, 33 years old, 5'4 1/2" tall
Current Weight 110
Weight loss maintained 1 year

Just a word on the IBS subject,,I had awful symptoms and finally stopped eating wheat and milk ( have one cup of yogurt daily tho ) and my symptoms have vanished..have not felt this good in 40 yrs!! Docs just say if it is working then keep doing it, so I am.