Fiber is an essential nutrient that promotes healthy bowel function as well as reduces your risk of cardiovascular disease, obesity and type 2 diabetes, according to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2010. Good fiber rich foods are vegetables, fruits, berries and whole grains. The typical American diet tends to be low in dietary fiber. Coming up with ways to add fiber to your meals can help increase your daily fiber intake to the recommended levels, 38 g for men and 25 g for women per day.
Step 1
Add vegetables and legumes to your meals to increase the fiber content. Good fiber sources include peas, beans, lentils, artichokes, winter squash, broccoli, okra and mixed vegetables. For example, 1/2 cup of cooked navy, pinto, black, kidney, white and lima beans have between 6.2 and 9.6 g of fiber, according to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2010.
Step 2
Eat high-fiber fruits as snacks or add them to your salad and dessert. Fruits high in fiber include pear, apple with skin, banana, orange and guava, all which have between 3 g to 5.5 g of fiber in one fruit. Other fiber rich fruits are prunes and figs.
Step 3
Add fresh berries to your morning cereal, yogurt, or desserts to increase the fiber content. Berries that are high in fiber include raspberries, blackberries, blueberries and strawberries, which have between 3.3 g to 8 g of fiber in 1 cup.
Step 4
Replace some of the lettuce you use in salads with high-fiber spinach, collards and turnip greens, which have between 2.5 to 3.5 g of fiber per 1/2 cup.
Step 5
Use tomato paste sauces instead of cream-based sauces for pasta dishes. A 1/4 cup of tomato paste has 2.7 g of fiber.
Step 6
Use whole grain products instead of refined grains to increase your foods fiber content. For example, use brown or wild rice, pasta made with whole wheat, breads and baked goods made with whole wheat or grain flour, and switch your morning cereal to whole grain cereal or oatmeal.
Step 7
Use whole grains when baking to replace some of the all-purpose flour. The Whole Grain Council recommends you substitute half of the white flour with whole wheat flour when making cookies, muffins, quick breads and pancakes.
Step 8
Add vegetable puree to your meatloaf, meatballs, burger patties and sauces, or add fruit puree to muffins, pancakes and other baked goods to increase the fiber content.
Step 9
Substitute part of bread crumbs in a stuffing with cooked whole grain bulgur, wild rice or barley.
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