Dietary fiber — found mostly in whole grains — is also found in fruits, vegetables, legumes and beans. Your body can’t digest fiber; it passes through your stomach and intestinal tract mostly unchanged. While soluble fiber forms a gel-like substance, insoluble fiber adds bulk to stool. Although whole-wheat products are a major dietary source of insoluble fiber, other whole grains, nuts and vegetables are additional sources of insoluble fiber. A collective body of research suggests that increasing insoluble fiber in your diet may reduce the risk of developing chronic illnesses including type 2 diabetes, according to a July 2002 American Dietetic Association report.
Step 1
Eat more flax seed, nuts, dark green leafy vegetables and the skins from root vegetables and fruits as part of your daily diet. These are food sources of insoluble fiber other than wheat and wheat bran. Fruit and vegetable skins can provide up to one half of the food’s fiber content.
Step 2
Increase your fiber intake by eating a wider variety of whole grains such as oats, oat bran, barley, brown rice, wild rice, whole corn and corn bran. These are as healthful as whole wheat. While oats contain more soluble fiber than other whole-wheat grains, any food that is a good source of soluble fiber normally contains some insoluble fiber as well.
Step 3
Follow the recommended daily intake for fiber by eating foods that contain soluble and insoluble fiber. Not all types of fiber offer the same health benefits, but including a varied range of fiber-rich foods in your diet will provide the healthy benefits of both types of fiber. Oatmeal, legumes, lentils, nuts and seeds, apples and pears are good sources of soluble fiber. Barley, whole grain breakfast cereals, zucchini, celery and carrots are other sources of insoluble fiber. The Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommends 25 g of fiber daily for women and 38 g for men. Men and women age 51 and older need slightly less fiber.
Step 4
Read ingredient labels. Look for whole-grain breakfast cereals other than wheat and wheat bran that provide 5 g or more of fiber per serving. Select whole-grain products that offer at least 2 g of dietary fiber in each serving. If you are eating a minimum of five servings of fruits and vegetables in addition to six servings of grains each day, you are probably getting adequate fiber in your diet. At least three of the six servings of grain products should come from whole grains.
Tips and Warnings
- Include more fiber-rich foods in your diet to help with weight control. Fiber makes you feel full and more satisfied so that you eat less. Whole-grain foods other than wheat include whole rye, whole cornmeal, popcorn and quinoa grains which are seeds prepared similarly to rice.
- Nutrition Facts labels usually do not tell you how much soluble and insoluble fiber a product contains. Food labels list total dietary fiber content per serving instead. Eating whole foods is the best way to get adequate amounts of both types of fiber. Talk to your doctor before taking fiber supplements. Eating whole foods is a better way to get your fiber. A major shortcoming with fiber supplements is that they do not provide the vitamins and minerals that high-fiber foods do. A diet that includes lots of fruits, vegetables, legumes and whole grains is normally lower in fat and higher in essential nutrients than a low-fiber diet.
References
- HealthCastle.com; Fiber 101 – Soluble Fiber vs Insoluble Fiber; Gloria Tsang; March 2011
- Mayo Clinic; Dietary Fiber; Mayo Clinic Staff; November 2009
- Mayo Clinic; Dietary Fiber; Mayo Clinic Staff; November 2009
- University of Arizona Cooperative Extension; Dietary Fiber; Sherry Henley, et al.; August 1999
- U.S. News and World Report; Could Getting More Fiber Help You Live Longer; Angela Haupt, et al.; February 2011
- Harvard School of Public Health: Fiber – Start Roughing It
- "Journal of the American Dietetic Association"; Position of American Dietetic Association – Health Implications of Dietary Fiber’ July 2002
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