Why YSK: fiber is important for optimal human health. It helps us avoid diabetes, heart disease, colon cancer, obesity, and other diseases. This is particularly important in developed countries such as mine (USA) that are suffering greatly from these diseases.
The recommended daily fiber intake is 25g for women and 38g for men in the USA, and 95% of us don’t meet this amount. This suggests an urgent need for us to increase our daily fiber intake, which can be achieved by swapping out ultra-processed foods and animal foods that are void of fiber with whole plant foods such as fruits, vegetables, legumes, whole grains, nuts, and seeds.
goes and gets a carrot from the fridge after reading this post
Only 10 more to go!
(Based on an adult male needing 38g, the mean fiber intake being 16g, and a large carrot containing 2g)
But what about baby carrots
I started using complex fiber supplements (as in whole dried ground foods with multiple sources and types of fiber) about a month ago, honestly life changing, cannot recommend enough.
Do not jump straight to this fiber intake if you are eating way under it. Gradually alter your diet to meet it. You will experience some discomfort if you don’t.
You know that old saying an apple a day keeps the doctor away? Apples are a great source of fiber.
I hate apples almost as much as corn on the cob.
The skins always get stuck in between my teeth and it makes me want to use a chainsaw to get it out.
I’m all for skinned apples and uncobbed (decobbed? cobbless?) corn though.
The skin contains most of the fiber in apples.
25 GB per day? I don’t even HAVE fiber, I’m stuck with fucking Comcast, which might I add is down right now. Typical.
Why so much higher for men? On an average day I eat probably somewhere between 25 and 45 g depending on what I’ve meal preppes D for the week and what I’ve decided on for snacks. I am a vegetarian who eats mostly whole foods. I can’t even fathom how the average American could come anywhere even close to that. It’s a LOT of beans/whole grains/vegetables/chia seeds/etc.
Man shits
Say no more (mostly because I don’t want any more details about those shits).
In general, American men are larger - dimensionally - so more fibre is required for a larger person.
Ideally, an individual would work with their doctor or whoever to figure out how much would be appropriate.
Because larger people need to eat more, as their body requires more energy, and so they need more fiber, I’m assuming.
I was Googling just now and found that women have a longer colon than man. I wonder if that makes any difference.
Psh, you had to Google to know that? You never found out for yourself? Kids these days.
Right? How else are you supposed to figure out who is on the other side of a glory hole? Mouths feel the same but that colon depth is noticeable, if you are paying attention.
Sexual dimorphism in humans
Ok but I was curious another specific physiological reasons lol like maybe men require that much more or they don’t see cardiovascular benefits or something like that.
Overall, men are significantly more massive than women, so our caloric intake is also proportionally higher. As a 6’3" 230lb man, if I were to try to stick to a 2000 calorie a day diet, I would lose weight. I need 2500 calories if I don’t work out, and more like 3400 if I do.
The wiener is 40% fiber
Wow, why such a discrepancy between men and women?
On average, men big, women smol.
The fiber ratio in this post is extremely close to the weight ratio between my wife and me.
Shouldn’t it just be weight dependent then, or is that too complicated to communicate?
As some people here already know since I talk about it endlessly, I have a weird medical condition where I have not eating solid foods in almost a year now. You have no idea how much fiber you need just to have decent bowel functions when you start at a base of zero.
I drink four cans of V8 and take 2 Metamucil capsules a day to get me up to about 30g. Still less than the recommended amount, but it’s all I can manage at the moment.
Before that, there were a couple of times when the constipation was so painful that I literally started yelling, “OH FUCK! OH FUCK! OH FUCK!”
🤣
I think I’ve started reaching this amount recently since I’ve changed my diet and started eating more oatmeal and fruits/vegetables. With that said, fiber can actually cause problems for some people, it can cause bloating/pain for some people even with adequate water intake to match the fiber.
If you suddenly add the recommended dosage to your diet, you will absolutely have problems like that at first.
It’s ideal to slowly increase your fiber intake so your body has time to adjust to it. That way those problems are minimized until it’s a regular part of your diet.To be fair, I added them to my diet without ramping up without issues, and there are people who can ramp them up and their body never adjusts to it/handles it properly. It all depends on the person, ultimately.
Your body needs time to adjust, you should work your way up to it.
True, but some people’s bodies don’t need time to adjust, and some people’s bodies are unable to adjust, it just depends on the person.
if your body can’t handle fibre, that’s not fibre being bad, that’s it telling you that you need to start getting in contact with medical professionals to make sure you stay healthy.
Not necessarily true, some people just don’t tolerate fiber well. It doesn’t mean that they absolutely definitely have something medically wrong, for some people it just causes bloating no matter what.
We highly recommend Benefiber for anyone. It is tasteless, doesn’t change the texture of your food or drink, and can be added to almost anything.
I think many people avoid adding fiber to their diets because it requires a change in diet or a supplement that is often gross.
Edit: Here’s a link. https://www.benefiber.com/fiber-supplement-products/benefiber-powder/
Better than psyllium husk?
I think so, yes. At least from a taste and texture standpoint, it is waaaay better. Psyllium husk (Metamucil) changes the texture of drinks and foods, causing them to congeal into a viscous gel.
Benefiber does not change the texture of the food or drink and is odourless and tasteless.
I will note however, after a quick google just now, that Metamucil was shown in a study to lower cholestrol while Benefiber did not.
For me though, it’s all about what changes I can make and stick to, and something that changes texture is very hard for me to get down.
I can get psyllium husks in tablet form. No need to mix it with anything.
In results, no.
In ease of consumption, yes.
This is what I do. I get the giant jugs at Costco and put them in the cabinet where we keep all our coffee stuff. Every morning I scoop it into my coffee before making it and it’s so easy. You’d never even know it was in the drink as it dissolves completely once stirred.
If you buy a supplement, definitely get the fine ground. I made the mistake of buying course ground and it’s like adding orange juice pulp to everything because it’s so chunky.
Same! First cup of coffee every day is the powder cup, goes in with the splenda. :)
I think I’m using a similar thing and I agree that it’s ideal.
i started being mindful of eating more fibre a year or so ago, and dear god it’s amazing to be able to just trust my bowels and barely ever have to think about type 2 toilet visits.
Fiber should be the principle and perhaps only macro nutrient most people interested in improving their health and weight should track. If you are consuming enough fiber, you are necessarily eating a large volume of healthy, calorie-poor food, and it becomes a challenge to overeat at all. Once you’ve got your fiber intake high enough you can basically eat anything you want in addition to that.
Does the USDA recommend single mode or multi mode?
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Thank you!
Vegetables measured in units of 120ml (because it’s half of some cups) is really stupid.
that article is written by vegan spiders, who sink their fangs into the tender flesh of a carrot and drain it of its essence, leaving only a withered stick behind.
Lol that’s hilarious. I laugh so much at the crazy mixing of units we use here in the US. Similarly, it’s quite common to see metric and customary units in the same sentence, as in “add 1 tablespoon to 100 mL of water”.
Realistically it looks like the majority of my fiber intake is about to become oats and popcorn…
You can throw some chia seeds in the oats to add to it. Doesn’t change the taste or anything.
Ah but you assume I will remember to BUY Chia seeds 😂
Yeah, actually acquiring them is pretty critical to the whole idea.
Thanks for the reminder. I keep forgetting to look out for chia & flax seeds when grocery shopping…
Eat your veggies and fruit people.
I believe, you’re missing a comma there. Probably don’t want people eating people. 🙃
You show me a sapient pineapple and I’ll show you a crime scene.
