How Much Do I Need?

Written by Kathleen M. Zelman, RD, LD, MPH

Reviewed by Jennifer Robinson, MD on April 07, 2016

You probably know that fiber is important to good health, but do you know if you are getting enough?

Most Americans aren’t. The average adult only eats 15 grams of fiber per day.

Women need 25 grams of fiber per day, and men need 38 grams per day, according to the Institute of Medicine.

Eating more plant foods — vegetables, beans, fruit, whole grains, and nuts — is the best way and is one of the recommendations from the U.S. government’s 2015 Dietary Guidelines.

These foods are all naturally rich in nutrients, including fiber, and provide all the health benefits that go along with a fiber-rich diet.

Top sources of fiber are: beans (all kinds), peas, chickpeas, black-eyed peas, artichokes, whole wheat flour, barley, bulgur, bran, raspberries, blackberries, and prunes.

Good sources of fiber include: lettuce, dark leafy greens, broccoli, okra, cauliflower, sweet potatoes, carrots, pumpkin, potatoes with the skin, corn, snap beans, asparagus, cabbage, whole wheat pasta, oats, popcorn, nuts, raisins, pears, strawberries, oranges, bananas, blueberries, mangoes, and apples.

Avoiding refined grains — such as white flour, white bread, white pasta, and white rice — and replacing them with whole grains is a great way to boost the amount of fiber in your diet. The Dietary Guidelines recommend at least half your grains be whole grains, but with all of the whole grain options available now, it’s easy to do even better than that.

Whole foods are the preferred way to get fiber, because they also give you nutrients your body needs.

All plant foods have fiber in different amounts.

Most fiber is soluble, meaning that it dissolves in water, or insoluble, meaning that it does not dissolve in water.

Soluble fiber is found in beans, peas, lentils, oatmeal, oat bran, nuts, seeds, psyllium, apples, pears, strawberries, and blueberries. Soluble fiber is linked to lowering LDL (bad) cholesterol, regulating blood sugar, and a lower risk of heart disease and type 2 diabetes.

Insoluble fiber is found in whole grains, barley, whole-grain couscous, brown rice, bulgur, wheat bran, nuts, seeds, carrots, cucumbers, zucchini, celery, green beans, dark leafy vegetables, raisins, nuts, grapes, and tomatoes. It helps keep you regular, prevents constipation, and lowers the chance of getting diverticular disease.

Foods high in fiber can also make you feel full longer and curb overeating. High-fiber foods are filling. They need more chewing, which may help you feel full faster.

Fiber is also linked to a lower risk of certain cancers such as colorectal cancer.

This sample menu for a day gives you 37 grams of fiber:

• Breakfast: whole-grain bran flake cereal (5 grams of fiber), half a banana (1.5 grams of fiber), and skim milk.
• Snack: 24 almonds (3.3 grams of fiber) and a quarter cup of raisins (1.5 grams of fiber)
• Lunch: Turkey sandwich made with 2 slices of whole wheat bread, lettuce, and tomato (5 grams of fiber), and an orange (3.1 grams of fiber)
• Snack: Yogurt with half a cup of blueberries (2 grams of fiber)
• Dinner: Grilled fish with a salad of romaine lettuce and shredded carrots (2. 6 grams of fiber), half a cup of spinach (2.1 grams of fiber), and half a cup of lentils (7.5 grams of fiber)
• Snack: 3 cups popped popcorn (3.5 grams of fiber)

1. Start your day with a whole-grain cereal that has at least 5 grams of fiber. Look at the list of ingredients to be sure the whole grain (such as whole wheat, whole rye, or whole oats) is first on the list.
2. Read labels and choose foods with at least a few grams of fiber per serving. A good source of fiber has 2.5-4.9 grams of fiber per serving. An excellent source has 5 grams or more per serving.
3. Use whole-grain breads with at least 2-3 grams of fiber per slice for sandwiches.
4. Choose whole fruit over juice. Whole fruit can have as much as twice the amount of fiber as a glass of juice.
5. Toss beans into your soups, stews, egg dishes, salads, chili, and Mexican dishes. Substitute beans for all of the meat in at least one vegetarian meal per week.
6. Experiment with international cuisines (such as Indian or Middle Eastern) that use whole grains and beans in main dishes.
7. Snack on raw vegetables with bean dip or hummus.

It’s best to boost fiber in your diet gradually and drink plenty of water, so your digestive system has time to adjust.

A good rule of thumb is to add about 5 grams of fiber per day, spread throughout the day, until you reach your goal.

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Signs You’ve Had Too Much Fiber + What To Do If You Have

Can you take too much fiber?

Yes, it’s possible to have too much fiber. However, the exact amount that qualifies as “too much” varies from person to person. 

The National Academies2 recommends that women under 50 have at least 25 to 28 grams of fiber per day, while men under 50 should strive for at least 38 grams daily. The intake recommendations also decrease slightly for individuals 51 and up.

The National Academies hasn’t established an upper tolerable limit for this essential nutrient (i.e., we must consume it daily because our bodies cannot synthesize fiber), as the consequences of having “too much” fiber are individualized and varied. In terms of safety, there isn’t evidence that suggests a certain amount results in serious side effects.

“The amount of fiber each individual can tolerate without any negative side effects may totally differ,” says Keri Gans, RDN, a New York City–based dietitian and author of The Small Change Diet. “What might work for one person may not for another based on their digestive system, age, and other factors. ” 

Signs of too much fiber.

There are a few signs that can clue you in that you might have had too much fiber (especially in a short period of time and if you haven’t routinely consumed much fiber before). 

“When you have too much fiber, it can sometimes contribute to digestive upset,” says Jessica Cording, M.S., R.D., CDN, a registered dietitian, health coach, and author of The Little Book of Game Changers. It’s important to have enough fiber to have regular bowel movements, but too much fiber can make some people feel backed up, she says. 

The opposite can also happen: “For some individuals, too much fiber will cause loose stools,” Gans says.

Gas and bloating are also common signs of too much fiber intake, Cording says. “It can even reduce absorption of different nutrients if you’ve been having too much fiber for a long period of time,” she explains. 

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Recommended fiber dose.

Again, the right fiber dose depends on a few factors—like how old you are, your biological sex, and your personalized health needs. “It really depends on the person,” Cording says. “Everybody’s body is different in terms of what they can tolerate.” 

And while you may experience less-than-desirable effects of increased fiber if you up your daily intake drastically (it’s better to ease into fiber additions), it’s worth noting that most Americans are far more likely to miss the mark on their recommended dosage. In fact, a 2017 scientific review published in the American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine3 found that the average American only eats about 16 grams of fiber a day—less than the recommended amount for a 1- to 3-year-old. 

In general, Cording says it’s very rare that she recommends people have more than 40 grams of fiber a day. Still, some people may be able to tolerate 50 grams of fiber without any issues, Gans says—but beyond that is really pushing it. For example, “100 grams per day is definitely a lot of fiber, and I would guess that, for the majority of people, it would be too much for their bodies to digest on a daily basis,” Gans explains. 

If you’re concerned you’re not getting enough fiber in your diet, Cording suggests “making it a point to incorporate one high-fiber food into each meal.” That includes wonderfully colorful plants like leafy greens (spinach, Swiss chard, collard greens), cruciferous vegetables (kale, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower), carrots, raspberries, apples, pears, whole grains, beans, lentils, or avocados. 

“If you find it hard to meet your needs through food (maybe those are foods that you don’t really like that much, or they don’t fit into your day-to-day routine), fiber supplements can be useful,” Cording says. “Supplements can also be useful if you find your needs have increased for whatever reason—like you’re dealing with irregularity that’s backing you up.” 

If you decide to leverage a high-quality fiber supplement to meet your daily fiber goals, consider mindbodygreen’s organic fiber potency+. It offers 6 grams of soluble, insoluble, and prebiotic fiber in each scoop from advanced fiber sources (organic guar bean, organic kiwifruit, and a trio of organic mushrooms) to promote satiety4, regularity5, holistic gut health, and more.*

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What to do if you have too much fiber.

If you have too much fiber, Gans says you shouldn’t panic. However, you might have some unwanted gastrointestinal side effects, like gas and bloating. “If you are experiencing negative side effects, try drinking plenty of water and eating bland foods—such as white rice, chicken, eggs, and white toast—until you feel better,” she says. 

Cording also recommends upping your water intake. “Know that it will get better,” she says. “But if you’re really uncomfortable, limit foods that are hard to digest for the rest of the day, or until you feel better.”

Benefits of fiber.

There are plenty of perks to making sure you have enough fiber in your diet. Fiber can promote good gut health, balanced blood sugar levels, and satiety, among other benefits: 

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1.

Keeps you regular.

Research—including a 2020 narrative review of meta-analyses from the Journal of Chiropractic Medicine—has found that fiber supplementation is important to support regular bowel movements, along with gut motility.* 

“Fiber helps build stool bulk and speed up transit time,” Cording explains. Meaning, it helps keep things moving along in your GI tract. 

2.

Supports healthy immune function.

Fiber helps support the immune system, primarily in the gut, but that benefits the entire body. According to a 2021 review, fiber helps promote the function of short-chain fatty acids as it ferments in the gut, strengthening the gut barrier6 in the process. *

Up to 80% of your immune cells7 are in your GI tract, per a 2021 Nutrients review, and prebiotic fibers (along with probiotics) help sustain a healthy gut-immune function by promoting the integrity of the gut lining and supporting the diversity of your gut microbiome.*

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3.

Stabilizes blood sugar.

“Fiber has a way of slowing down the digestive process that can help buffer the breakdown of carbohydrates in food,”* Cording says. When carbohydrates in your body break down more slowly, you’re less likely to get blood sugar spikes, she explains. 

4.

Helps you feel full.

Fiber makes you feel full in a few ways: “When it interacts with water, it takes up space in the stomach and can help you feel full for longer,”* Cording says. Fiber also “digests more slowly in our bodies, therefore aiding in satiety,” Gans adds.  

FAQ

What will too much fiber do to your poop?

It depends. In some people, it can slow down gut motility and cause things to feel backed up. In others, it may do the opposite and contribute to loose stools. Consider your overall gut health and how much fiber you eat per day compared to the recommended daily intake to determine if you need more or less fiber to support healthy digestion and bowel movements.

How much is too much fiber per day?

The National Academies recommends that women under 50 have at least 25 to 28 grams of fiber per day; men under 50 should aim for at least 38 grams daily. 

Depending on their baseline gut health and how much fiber their body is used to, some individuals can safely consume 40 grams or higher daily without having side effects. In general, it’s best to increase your fiber intake slowly, drink plenty of water, and pay attention to your body in the process.

The takeaway.

Fiber is an important part of a healthy diet, but it is possible to overdo it. That said, the vast majority of people are failing to meet their recommended daily dose of fiber, so it’s far more likely your daily intake is missing the mark. 

If you’re falling short of meeting your fiber goals, try to add more fiber-rich foods (and consider a high-quality fiber supplement, like mindbodygreen’s organic fiber potency+) to your diet to ensure you’re getting enough of this critical complex carb.

If you are pregnant, breastfeeding, or taking medications, consult with your doctor before starting a supplement routine. It is always optimal to consult with a health care provider when considering what supplements are right for you.

How Much Fiber Should You Eat Per Day?｜ iHerb Blog

The information in this blog has not been verified by your local health authority and is not intended as a diagnosis, treatment, or medical advice.
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You may have heard that fiber is good for your health. But where does fiber come from, and how much fiber should you consume per day? Read on and learn the facts about this important nutrient.

What is fibre?

Fiber is an indigestible part of plant foods. When you eat vegetables, grains, legumes, nuts, and other plant foods, your body breaks them down and metabolizes proteins, fats, and carbohydrates. Fiber passes through the digestive tract relatively intact.

The foods you eat contain two main types of fiber: soluble and insoluble.

Soluble fiber dissolves in water and helps lower cholesterol levels, regulate blood sugar levels and reduce the risk of heart disease. Soluble fiber is found in oatmeal, apples, beans, nuts, and blueberries.

Insoluble fiber is hardly processed by the body. It promotes regular bowel movements, increasing stool volume and preventing constipation. Dietary sources of insoluble fiber include whole grain bread, brown rice, cauliflower, and potatoes.

For maximum benefit, make sure you have enough fiber of both types in your diet.

Fiber Benefits

Weight Management

Insoluble and soluble fiber helps you feel full so you eat less. Recent studies show an inverse relationship between fiber intake and weight. Simply put, the more fiber you eat, the better your chances of losing weight and maintaining it within healthy limits.

Digestion Healthy

The obvious digestive benefits of eating enough fiber are to promote regular bowel movements and help prevent constipation. Regular bowel movements can reduce the risk of diverticulosis and diverticulitis. New research also points to the role of fiber in maintaining normal levels of healthy bacteria in the gut. Fiber acts as a prebiotic (food for beneficial bacteria) and helps you absorb more nutrients.

Diabetes

Fiber can help diabetics slow down the body’s absorption of sugar and thereby more effectively regulate blood sugar levels. Research has also shown that a diet rich in fiber can reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes.

Cardiovascular Diseases

Soluble fiber may help lower LDL “bad” cholesterol and cholesterol in general. Eating enough fiber can lower your blood pressure and reduce your risk of heart disease and heart attack.

General health

Numerous studies show that a diet high in fiber is associated with a significantly lower risk of death from any cause. Great news! More fiber in your diet is a simple and proven way to quickly improve your health. Great!

Recommended Daily Fiber

The American Heart Association recommends 25 grams of fiber per day for a 2000 calorie diet. Alas, the average American consumes only 10-15 grams of fiber per day.

A recent meta-analysis published in The Lancet reviewed over 200 studies. The result is a significant reduction in the risk of developing diseases when eating 25-29 grams of fiber per day. In addition, this meta-analysis suggests an even stronger positive effect against cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, colorectal and breast cancer when consumed in excess of 29 grams per day.

Fiber rich foods

Dietary fiber is found in fruits and vegetables, whole grains, legumes, nuts and seeds. Among the best sources of fiber are:

• High fiber flakes
• Boiled beans
• Peas
• Chickpeas
• Lentils
• Pear
• Avocado
• Apples (with skin)
• Chia seeds
• Bulgur
• Mixed vegetables (cooked from frozen )
• Raspberry
• Blueberry
• Kale
• Sweet potato (with peel)
• Popcorn
• Almond

Prosty e ways to enrich the diet with fiber

• When buying groceries, make sure that the content of dietary fiber is above 5% of the daily value (less than 5% is considered low in fiber, more than 20% is considered high).
• Look for whole grains on the ingredients list. Remember, the higher the ingredient on the list, the greater its specific content in the product.
• Replace any refined grains in your diet with their whole grain counterparts (eg, pasta, cereal, bread).
• Replace processed foods with fruits, vegetables, and nuts for snacks.
• Wherever possible, add beans, lentils or beans to soups, salads or as a side dish.
• Add chia or flax seeds to smoothies.
• Try to have no more than 1/3 of the meal meat and the other 2/3 vegetables, legumes and whole grains.
• Take a daily fiber supplement.

Is it possible to overeat fiber?

While most Americans eat too little fiber, it’s possible to overdo it, especially if you’re trying to increase your diet too much.

To avoid stomach pain and painful bloating, increase your fiber intake gradually to reach your target level over many days. Also be sure to drink plenty of water so that the fiber does its job.

If you have any inflammatory bowel disease or irritable bowel syndrome, check with your doctor before changing the fiber content in your diet or taking fiber supplements or your condition may worsen.

Fiber and health in general

The bottom line is that dietary fiber has various benefits for overall health, and most people just don’t eat enough fiber to feel the effects. Assess your usual diet. If you find that you are not eating enough fiber, set yourself a goal and slowly but surely bring your daily fiber intake to a minimum of 25 grams.

Here’s an interesting recipe to start with.

High fiber lazy oatmeal

Lazy oatmeal takes only a couple of minutes in the evening to mix the ingredients and a couple of minutes in the morning to heat it up (you can even eat it cold if you like). The perfect consistency of oatmeal porridge without the hassle. Just perfect! You can play around with the ingredients to your liking, but here’s my go-to recipe lately.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup oatmeal
• 1/2 and 1/4 cup almond milk
• 2 tablespoons chia seeds
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon maple syrup
• 1/2 sliced ​​banana
• High-fiber cereal, to sprinkle (optional*)

Preparation:

1. Mix Hercules, 1/2 cup milk, chia seeds, cinnamon and maple syrup in a bowl. **
2. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
3. Microwave on high power for 2 minutes in the morning (can be eaten cold).
4. After reheating, add sliced ​​banana and 1/4 cup milk.
5. Enjoy!

*For even more fiber and a delicious crunch, sprinkle with high fiber cereal right before eating.

**For flavor, you can make lazy oatmeal in a nearly empty almond or peanut butter jar. In this case, do not forget to reheat the oatmeal in another container if you do not want to eat it cold.

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How much fiber should I eat per day?

Nutrition

How much fiber per day does the body need to maintain health and not gain weight?

We need to eat 25 g of fiber per day for women and 38 g for men, then the diet can be considered balanced. It’s like eating 2 servings of lentils or ripe raspberries, for example, or two avocados a day, or a bowl of oatmeal, or a cup of hummus.

This is the “maximum” norm, and if before that you only liked pasta and white bread, switching to a fiber-rich diet can be difficult, but necessary.

Fiber is dietary fiber, a complex carbohydrate found in all vegetables, herbs, berries, fruits, grain shells, legumes, seeds, nuts: almost all whole plant foods are rich in it. Every time we eat a persimmon, a handful of blueberries or a crispy cucumber, we form a healthy microbiome and help our immune system.

Fiber is found in all whole foods, vegetables, herbs, berries, fruits, grain husks, legumes, seeds, nuts.

Fiber is not digestible, but stimulates stable digestion and gives a feeling of satiety, energy and lightness.

It performs a very important role in the body – it maintains normal microflora and blood sugar levels, regulates the absorption of fats, participates in cholesterol metabolism, effectively removes toxins, helps to lose weight and maintain normal weight

There are two types of fiber – soluble and insoluble and we don’t have to worry about how many grams we get: most fiber-rich foods contain both, but both are important in a balanced healthy diet.

Why do we need soluble fiber?

Soluble fiber is found in high amounts in berries and fruits, grain shells such as oatmeal and apples (pectins, inulin, oligosaccharides, beta-glucan, hemicellulose, gum, alginase).

In health support, it acts as a prebiotic or breeding ground for the growth and development of good bacteria.

Soluble fiber maintains a balance between good and pathogenic bacteria in the microbiome, has a positive effect on immunity, 70% of which is in the intestines, fat absorption, cholesterol metabolism and our hormones.

In vegetables, soluble fiber is found mainly in the peel, in the pulp it is abundant in sweet potatoes and boiled carrots.

This is a “tender” fiber that the body tolerates quite easily. When combined with water, it turns into a soft enveloping gel and increases in volume several times. It is due to its ability to “swell” that the products that contain it give a stable and long-lasting feeling of fullness.

For example, the soluble fiber beta-glucan, which is found in oatmeal, is considered very good for the heart, reduces inflammation and increases the activity of immune cells.

Some studies show that beta-glucans can even purify the blood by killing bacteria and viruses.

Fiber is not always “tasteless” and if you find it difficult to eat foods rich in fiber, start with dark berries or an apple a day (they are high in pectin, which cleanses the body and removes toxins).

Broccoli, green beans, spinach, artichokes, blackberries, blueberries, raspberries, avocados, almonds, walnuts and Brazil nuts are rich in soluble fiber.

Chia replacement is a great example of a high soluble fiber food. When combined with a liquid, they increase in size several times and give a transparent thick gel.

Unique properties of psyllium (psyllium husk), which contains 71% soluble fiber, while oatmeal – only 5%. It gently cleanses the body and can easily replace gluten in various dishes.

How does fiber help you lose weight?

Insoluble fiber (cellulose, lignin) is more “coarse”, with large fibers, insoluble in water, not digested or fermented by the body, but no less useful than soluble fiber.

It acts as a mechanical “cleaner” – passing through the digestive tract, it collects toxins, poisons, harmful trace elements and removes them from the body. Insoluble fiber aids in the digestion of food and the fermentation of soluble fiber: when paired, they work best!

Cereals, pumpkin, flax, sunflower seeds, raw “coarse-fiber” root crops (carrots, radishes, turnips, beets), all types of cabbage are richest in insoluble fibers.

To a lesser extent, it is found in berries, there is a lot of it in the shell of the grain (bran), peel of fruits, vegetables.

Adding insoluble fiber to your diet helps you lose weight. It slows down digestion by signaling satiety to the hormones leptin and ghrelin, allowing you to take breaks between meals and feel full.

How to eat fiber?

Add fiber to your diet gradually, starting at 5-9 g per day. This is about a handful of raspberries, 1 avocado, 100 g of green asparagus beans and be sure to follow the drinking regimen. The most “soft” action will have leafy salads with delicate leaves – lettuce, lolo rosso, spinach and berries such as blueberries, raspberries, strawberries.

5 easy tips to eat more fiber:

• Replace white bread, pasta and white rice with whole grain alternatives – brown or black rice, oatmeal, buckwheat flour, quinoa paste, peas, whole grains.
• Add seeds to your meals, such as chia, flaxseed, pumpkin – start with small portions and wash them down with water.
• Eat fiber-rich snacks—carrot and celery slices, berries, dried fruit, flax crackers, nuts, and fruit.
• Little by little, but in every meal, even desserts, include some fiber – berries, lettuce, vegetables, whole grains.
• Start the day with fiber-rich foods – in the morning it will be absorbed better and give you a boost of energy for the day.