12 Benefits of Fiber and Simple Ways to Eat More Every Day

“You are what you eat.” And that’s true, in some ways. What we eat can help us have the energy and stamina to do what we want to do, help us feel good, and help us live longer and healthier lives. On the flip side, what we eat can increase our risk of disease and injury, make us feel sluggish, affect our health in a variety of negative ways, and even keep us from doing the things we want to do. It can be tricky to eat a healthy diet and to make sure we’re eating enough protein, healthy fats, and healthy carbs and drinking enough water too. And then we also hear that we should be making sure we’re eating enough fiber-filled foods. It can all feel absolutely daunting! But…hear me out: Fiber, and consuming enough of it every day, is an important part of a healthy diet and a healthy body!

The Benefits of Fiber

Before we get into the benefits of fiber, here is some general information about fiber that’s helpful to understand. There are two different types of fiber, and these two types of fiber are often seen on food labels: Soluble and insoluble. The main difference between the two is that soluble binds with water and insoluble does not.

Soluble fiber slows digestion, which can help prevent sugar spikes, and it can also bind with fatty acids, which helps get them out of the body and lower bad cholesterol (LDL).

Insoluble fiber adds bulk to the stool and also helps food move more quickly through the stomach and intestines.This can help prevent constipation.

Eating enough fiber has so many healthy benefits! Fiber can help to prevent…

Fiber can also do the following:

Keep you regular
Keep your bowel healthy
Regulate cholesterol and lower heart disease risk
Regulate blood sugar
Help you feel fuller longer
Help you maintain a healthy weight
Lengthen your life

How much fiber should we be eating?

Since fiber is so good for us for so many reasons, here’s the question: How much fiber should we be eating every single day? Here are some great recommendations to aim for:

Women: 25 grams/day
Men: 38 grams/day

I can tell within a day if I didn’t eat enough fiber the day before. Seriously. Within ONE day. 😉

Tips for Eating More Fiber

If that daily fiber goal feels daunting and your daily fiber count is coming up short, here are some simple ways to help you add more fiber to your diet:

Eat more fruits and vegetables
Add lettuce/tomatoes/other vegetables to sandwiches
Eat more nuts (sparingly!) and beans
Eat high fiber cereals—add some fruit!

And this is a great tip that makes choosing fiber-rich foods super easy:

Look for the 4 Ss in the foods you eat: Seeds, strings, stalks, and skins

If a food has one or more of these Ss, you’re good to go!

Here are some fiber amounts in common foods that can hopefully help you eat all that fiber every day:

Not sure which foods to buy at the grocery store to help you hit your daily fiber goal? Here are some general recommendations for choosing foods with a good fiber content:

Cereal: 4+ grams per serving
Breads: 1.5+ grams per serving
Crackers: 2+ grams per serving
Other foods: 1.5+ grams per serving

Still not sure how to get in all that daily fiber? This is my breakfast that I’ve eaten pretty much every single day for over a decade, and it’s a great example of a fiber-filled meal. It starts my day out great with not only a healthy dose of fiber, but whole grains, healthy fats, yummy berries, and protein. Here’s the fiber breakdown:

1 oz bran flakes: 5.2g
1 cup frozen triple berries (thawed): 9g
.4 ounces sliced almonds: 1.6g
1 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk: 1g
My favorite protein hot cocoa (see recipe below): 2g
Total: 18.8g of fiber

Protein Hot Cocoa Recipe

1 scoop chocolate protein powder (get my favorite here)
16ish ounces hot water (I warm mine up in the microwave)
2ish tablespoons cocoa powder (I love dark chocolate, so adjust as needed)
2 tablespoons stevia (or any other 0 calorie sweetener)

Mix well and enjoy!
Nutrition information: Calories: 140, fat: 2.5g, carbs: 9g, fiber: 4g, protein: 24g
Tip: Make sure your water isn’t too hot or the protein powder will get lumpy. When in doubt, mix the ingredients first in a little cold water, then add the hot water. If the weather is warmer, I often turn this into iced protein hot cocoa. So good!

Are you a fiber lover like I am? Maybe not so much? If it’s the latter, try out one of these tips and see if you can increase your fiber intake each day. If you’re also a fiber lover, what’s your favorite fiber-filled meal? Leave it in the comments below!

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