Everyone is always talking about fiber. Do you get enough fiber in your diet? What foods have fiber in them? How much does a person need a day? It can all be so confusing and of course those marketing gurus love to take advantage of that. They tout their product as being whole grain and full of fiber. Get your fiber from their processed products and you’ll be “healthy”. For some weird food facts about what most people are really eating, visit Gluten Free For Good. You’ll also want to read her post on Gluten Free Fiber.
If your thought is the only way to get your fiber is from whole wheat, and then you gave it up to live gluten free, well then you’re up a creek. But if you think outside that whole wheat fiber box, than you should be able to find lots of great sources of fiber.
So how much fiber should you eat each day? According to recommendations from The Institute of Medicine, children and adults should consume 14 grams of fiber for every 1,000 calories of food they eat each day. Generally that means:
Women
25 grams per day, for women younger than 50
21 grams per day, for women older than 50
Men
38 grams per day, for men younger than 50
30 grams per day, for men older than 50
So there are you totals, now where are you getting your daily fiber?
I want to hear from you. Where do you get your daily fiber requirements? What foods are you eating? Please leave your answers in the comments.
I'm loving flaxseed (or linseed) at the moment, ground up and added to smoothies? Oh yes!
Otherwise I've been known to swallow tablespoonfuls with my morning berocca… those are the desperate measures that I've been driven to while taking iron pills. *sigh*
Theresa I too love flaxseed. Tiny little things packed with great taste and oh so good for you. Now the iron pills don't sound too fun so I think I'll stick with the seeds.
I start my day out with a protein smoothie that kick-starts my fibre requirements with Organic Vanilla Hemp Protein Powder (11g fibre), almond milk, strawberries, raspberries & blueberries (1 cup – so probably about 4g there). Then I will normally eat an apple as a snack during the day with skin (5g), and either vegetable & bean soups or salads for lunch (5 – 10 g there), and vegetables with dinner (spinach, kale, asparagus, chard, etc. etc. so that's probably another 10g there…)
It's so easy to meet these requirements if you're eating foods like fruits & vegetables (and legumes are a fabulous source of protein & fibre)! No grains or processed foods required!
Dee that sounds great. I'm spending the day eating with you!
OMG, I need to clean out my WordPress basement as you just reminded me that I did a whole post on fiber at one time. Totally different from what you have here, but we're on the same page with this. I'll have to sift back through my archives to find it and share it with you. Sadly I don't name posts like I should and they aren't easy to find later. When will I learn?
Anyway, I'm a HUGE fan of fiber and would even "up" the amounts that are typically endorsed. Fiber helps keep you cleaned out and also helps you feel full, which is nice since we all overeat at times. It's a great weight loss strategy. Some of my favorites (other than greens, greens, greens) are avocados, berries and flax seeds. Start slowly adding fiber though. If you're not used to it, you will explode (not fun). Drink lots of water as well.
Great reminder, Diane. Excellent post! (And thank you for the link love!)
Melissa
xo
Melissa if you find that post I'd love to add it here. I searched but couldn't find it. You hit all of my fiber favorites. Gosh that exploding things sounds wild. Thank you for sharing!
I like to add flaxseed meal to my hot cereal, but my favorite form of fiber is cabbage. For some reason, it works better than anything else to do what fiber's supposed to do: that is to say, it keeps me regular. 🙂
Looks like flaxseed is a big winner so far. I'm with you, I really like cabbage. I sneak it into our smoothies all the time.
I probably get most of my fiber from my smoothies too. Lots of kale, berries, apples, and last night we tried cabbage. I can't imagine chewing everything I pack into those smoothies. I'd be eating for two hours!
Heather I never thought about it but you're right. It's so much fun to play with the smoothies in what goes into them. It's also a lot easier to just drink it than chew!
I've never counted my fiber, but am sure I get loads. I'm a veggie-aholic and have added more fruits lately too 🙂 I've actually been trying to cut back on grains, but do have oats, rice, etc. once or twice a day. Oh yeah, lots of nuts and seed too 🙂
Alisa I love you fiber choices!
Hey there, nice blog! I eat a ton of fiber, but I'd say my favorite sources are figs, avocados, and beans. I hadn't known that men's fiber requirements were so much higher than women's, very interesting!
I don't have a favorite fiber. To be honest, I never really gave fiber much thought for much of my life, since I was always "regular" but then I entered my forties and started to have some irregularity. I didn't think it was much of a problem, since I never skipped more than a day. Then last year I started on a low carb diet and if you have ever done a low carb diet usually the problem of irregularity is exacerbated since low carb usually means low fiber. I came to learn that fiber was actually causing many of my problems: bloating, monthly cramps, constipation, etc. The most important thing I learned is that we do not need fiber to move our stools… constipation is a sign of deficient gut flora. I use probiotic foods to help my body move fiber, rather than trying to get more fiber.
I eat a LOT of fiber, mostly from veggies. I eat avocados a LOT, as well as sweet potatoes, spinach, kale, chard, beans, lots of berries, and then there's the nuts, chia seeds, flaxseed, brown rice, quinoa, and the occasional dried fruit.
I love your picture of all the fiber sources! Dried plums and black beans are my favorites!
Liz I like how you called prunes dried plums. It makes them sound so elegant. Love that fiber. Thank you for stopping by and commenting.