Daily Fiber Requirement For Women

Though your body derives little nutritional content from fiber itself, eating adequate fiber promotes healthy digestion, may help you lose weight and may protect you against chronic diseases that compromise your health. If your current diet lacks fiber, add high-fiber foods gradually until you meet your recommended dietary allowance.

Guidelines

The Institute of Medicine recommends that women eat 25g of dietary fiber per day before age 50 and 21g per day after age 50. Dietary fiber is an indigestible complex carbohydrate that comes from plant-based foods. Vegetables, fruits, legumes and whole-grain foods are rich in fiber. According to the American Dietetic Association, eating 2 cups of fruit and 2 1/2 cups of vegetables each day, along with servings of whole grains and beans, should help you meet your dietary requirement of fiber.

Types

Though your body doesn't digest the majority of the fiber you eat, fiber facilitates the digestion and absorption of your food. Insoluble fiber, commonly known as roughage, increases the bulk of your stools and stimulates bowel activity. Soluble fiber turns into a viscous, jelly-like substance in your digestive system and delays the conversion of carbohydrates into glucose, which provides a gradual release of energy to your brain and muscles.

Sources

Many plant-based foods contain a combination of insoluble and soluble fiber. If you eat a wide range of high-fiber foods, including whole-grain breads and cereals, bran, legumes, oatmeal, nuts and seeds, vegetables and fruits you should reap the benefits of both types of fiber, according to the Harvard School of Public Health. Some leading sources of dietary fiber include split peas at 16.3g of fiber in 1 cup, raspberries at 8g per cup, whole-wheat spaghetti at 6.2g per cup and broccoli at 5.1g per cup.

Benefits

Dietary fiber supports your health at any phase of your life. During pregnancy, eating adequate fiber may help relieve constipation and prevent hemorrhoids. Dietary fiber may help you avoid digestive disorders that affect women as they age, such as diverticulosis, the formation of herniations in the bowel caused by the pressure of passing hard stools. In menopause, when your metabolic rate slows, eating high-fiber, low-calorie foods may help prevent weight gain. Eating adequate dietary fiber may also decrease your risk of heart disease by lowering your low-density lipoprotein, or "bad" cholesterol, which contributes to the formation of fatty plaques on the arteries.

Suggestions

Drink eight glasses of water per day to help your digestive system process the fiber in your diet, advises HSPH. If you're trying to lose weight, snack on raw celery, baby carrots or apple slices to ward off cravings for high-calorie foods between meals. Replace one serving of cheese, bread or pasta each day with a serving of vegetables. As you're chewing low-calorie, high-fiber foods, your satiety signal has time to alert you that you're full, which may help you feel satisfied with less food, according to MayoClinic.com.