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Walk around any grocery store, and you’re likely to see myriad products touting their high-fiber ingredients. There’s good reason for this: Fiber  is an essential component of a healthy diet. According to the Mayo Clinic, a high-fiber diet can help maintain a healthy weight and lower the risk of diabetes, heart disease and some types of cancer. Fiber can help support regular digestion too. It also helps you feel full, as it slows the digestive process. 

Aim for 25-35 grams of fiber and spread your intake out through the day to make it feel more manageable. You also want to drink plenty of water to help keep things moving through the GI tract and alleviate any issues like gas, constipation, or bloating as you’re adjusting to stepping up their intake. As you get used to consuming more fiber your body processes it well but it can take a little getting used to in the beginning. 

WIAW-Sept-19-2018

Adding high-fiber foods to meals and snacks can help you reach your goal.

Thankfully, selecting tasty foods that provide fiber isn’t difficult. We have lots of options and I hope you enjoy trying out new sources of this very important nutrient. While whole grains (think corn, brown rice and wheat), get a lot of attention when we think of high-fiber foods, there are many other great options from which to choose. If, for example, you adhere to a gluten-free or low-carb diet, or simply want to expand your high-fiber foods repertoire, you’re in luck. This list of non-grain, high-fiber food suggestions is a great place to start when trying new sources of fiber (nutritional information from USDA Nutrient Search Database):

Fruit:

  •    Raspberries: 9 grams in ¾ of a cup
  •    Blueberries: 3.6 grams per cup
  •    Avocado: 15.6 grams in a cup (about 4 grams in half a medium avocado)
  •    Apples: 4.4 grams in a medium-sized apple
  •    Bananas: 3.1 grams in a medium-sized banana

Vegetables:

  •    Carrots: 3.6 grams in one cup
  •    Beets: 3.8 grams per cup
  •    Broccoli: 2 grams per cup
  •    Kale: 2.6 grams in one cup
  •    Brussels Sprouts: 4 grams per cup
  •    Sweet potatoes: 4 grams per cup

Beans:

  •    Lentils: 15.6 grams per cup of cooked lentils
  •    Kidney beans: 11.3 grams per cup of cooked beans
  •    Chickpeas: 12.5 grams per cup of cooked chickpeas
  •    Split peas: 16.3 grams per cup of cooked split peas

Nuts/Seeds/Treats:

  •    Almonds: 3.4 grams per ounce
  •    Pistachios: 4 grams per ounce
  •    Chia seeds: 10.6 grams per ounce of dried chia seeds
  •    Dark chocolate: 3.1 grams in a 1-ounce piece

 

Want more? In the meantime, you can watch the Facebook LIVE I did on the topic: High-Fiber Foods That Aren’t Grains.

I’d love to chat with you about ways to incorporate fiber into your diet and help support your healthy living goals—click here to book a free consult call.