Adding This One Thing To Your Diet Can Up Your Fiber Intake By 62%
Think you’re getting enough fiber in your diet? Chances are, even if you eat really healthy (including lots of fruits, veggies, and whole grains) you’re still likely falling short on getting enough of this critical carb. In fact, it’s estimated that 95% of all Americans don’t get enough fiber and are missing out on the benefits of a high-fiber diet (think satiety, blood sugar control, and better gut health).*
Here’s how much fiber you should aim to get each day and an easy way to bump up your intake by 62%.
How much fiber do you actually need?
The National Academies recommends women get a minimum of 25 grams of fiber per day1 (unless pregnant or breastfeeding, when recommendations are even higher) and men shoot for a minimum of 30 to 38 grams.
However, the average American consumes just 16 grams of fiber2 a day! Even our very own assistant health editor tracked her fiber intake for a day and realized she was only getting about 20 grams. She has since upped her intake to 35+ grams a day, and here’s how she did it.
So why is getting enough fiber so hard? Well, some foods that you think are high-fiber really aren’t. Let’s look at a few examples:
- ½ cup dry oats: 4 grams
- 1 cup quinoa: 4 grams
- ½ cup berries: 4 grams
- 1 cup Brussels sprouts: 3 grams
As these numbers show, even if you eat healthfully, getting to that minimum recommended amount can still be a challenge.
Signs you aren’t getting enough fiber
While you're likely not tracking each gram of fiber you eat (even our health editor only did it for a couple of days as part of an experiment), there are other ways to tell if this nutrient is lacking on your plate.
- You’re hungry a lot (even after you eat): Fiber is a non-digestible carbohydrate. It literally adds volume to your gut, which helps you feel full and satiated after a meal. Fiber also slows blood sugar absorption from the gut to the blood stream, which also helps appetite regulation.*
- You aren’t pooping regularly: Are you often backed up? Or go No. 2 too frequently? Eating more fiber in general can help keep you regular in both scenarios. Fiber helps regulate how quickly digested food moves through the gut and improves stool consistency.*
- You have a challenging time losing or maintaining weight: Fiber is a nutrient you should be eating more of to help maintain or lose weight. Besides slowing digestion, it also supports the body’s natural production of satiety hormones like GLP-1.*
How to easily increase your fiber intake
If you already feel like you’re eating a lot of fiber-rich foods, then leaning on a high-quality fiber supplement can play an important role in helping you reach your fiber intake goals and improving your overall health.* And mindbodygreen’s debloat+ with GLP-1 support is a smart choice.
Just one serving provides 9 grams of dietary fiber from a clinically studied, soluble (and prebiotic) vegetable fiber. So if you’re currently eating 16 grams of fiber a day, adding just this to your routine will increase your fiber intake by 62%! .
Studies show that consuming this specific type of fiber (Fibersol®-2) nourishes the gut microbiome3, eases gas and bloating, and improves bowel movements.* When the fiber is consumed with a meal, a study even shows it delays hunger by promoting the body’s GLP-1 production4.*
Plus, this fiber is also paired with two clinically studied probiotic strains that further target gut health and bloating.*
The takeaway
Truly, most of us could use more fiber in our diet. While incorporating more fiber-rich foods in your diet is a must (we gathered the top 25 foods here), a fiber supplement can help fill the gap while providing more targeted benefits.
Choosing a high-quality fiber supplement like debloat+ with GLP-1 support is a downright easy way to amp up your daily fiber count.