{"id":780807,"date":"2026-07-24T00:01:12","date_gmt":"2026-07-24T00:01:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/780807\/"},"modified":"2026-07-24T00:01:12","modified_gmt":"2026-07-24T00:01:12","slug":"how-to-increase-your-fiber-intake-101","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/780807\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Increase Your Fiber Intake 101"},"content":{"rendered":"

Fiber<\/a> is definitely having its moment in the pop culture spotlight (please don\u2019t ask me to use the word \u2018fibermaxxing\u2019 in a sentence), and as a dietitian, I\u2019m thrilled to finally see people giving fiber the attention it deserves. Although it doesn\u2019t provide energy, fiber still plays an essential role in many body processes. \u201cFiber is important for a balanced gut microbiome, regular bowel movements, digestive health, blood sugar management, healthy cholesterol levels, appetite regulation, liver health, weight management, and more,\u201d says Avery Zenker, RD, registered dietitian and health writer at MyChronsandColitisTeam<\/a>. With so much riding on this nutrient, we want to help you understand how much is needed,<\/a> some important food and supplemental sources, as well as how to safely increase your intake \u2014 and yes, there’s definitely a wrong way to go about it.<\/p>\n

Recommendations for what constitutes \u201cenough\u201d range with age and intake, but dietitian and food blogger Meme Inge, MS, RDN<\/a>, of Living Well Kitchen, says, \u201cRecommendations are for about 14 grams of fiber per 1000 calories consumed. For men under 51 years old, 38 grams per day. Women under 51 need at least 25 grams per day. Men over 51 need 30 grams, and women over 51 need at least 21 grams of fiber per day.\u201d If you\u2019re not coming close to this number right now, your best bet is to increase your intake slowly and get to a place you can stay at consistently, according to Inge, to avoid gastrointestinal distress. Zenker suggests setting meal targets by breaking down your full daily needs into manageable portions. For a 25-gram (g) day, you could aim for 8 to 9 g with each meal and then incorporate some of our high-fiber snack ideas<\/a> too.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve come across a lot of misconceptions about what foods are actually high in fiber during my own 12 years as a dietitian (the PR team for spinach deserves a raise) and folks are often shocked when I tell them that you\u2019d have to eat 10 cups of spinach to get close to the amount of fiber in a single serving of beans.<\/p>\n

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\u00a0Zenker suggests swapping out your garden salad for roasted vegetables like cauliflower, broccoli, and Brussels sprouts, and leveraging some of the highest fiber foods like artichokes. While some good fiber will come from fruits and vegetables, nuts, seeds, beans, and grains tend to be more concentrated sources. Zenker adds that \u201cLegumes are some of the highest fiber foods, providing you some of the best bang-for-your-buck.\u201d As a bean and grain evangelist myself, I\u2019m pleased to share some of the best foods (and some fabulous supplements<\/a>) for increasing your fiber intake.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Fiber is definitely having its moment in the pop culture spotlight (please don\u2019t ask me to use the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":780808,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[61],"tags":[97,269],"class_list":["post-780807","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nutrition","tag-health","tag-nutrition"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/780807","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=780807"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/780807\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/780808"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=780807"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=780807"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=780807"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}