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What Happened When I Ate 25 Grams of Fiber Every Day
I ate less sugar, felt full longer, and of course, was ridiculously regular
Today I’m going to talk to you about one of the most beloved subjects of all time: fiber.
Wait! Don’t go! I swear, this is going to be fun!
I know fiber doesn’t have the sex appeal of, say, the ketogenic diet, the pegan (paleo + vegan) lifestyle, or mindful eating. (Although, let’s be honest: Does mindful eating really have sex appeal?) But it does provide a number of impressive health benefits, including promoting weight loss, reducing constipation, and slashing your risk of heart disease, Type 2 diabetes, and certain types of cancer.
And if you want to get trendy, fiber is also great for your gut health, which is great for your immune system, as Kathryn Harmon Courage explains in “What Your Microbiome Really Needs Is Fiber, Not Kombucha.”
Clearly, fiber is much more than a welcome addition to your bathroom routine. Yet few Americans get the recommended 25 to 35 grams of fiber per day. I wanted to see if I could do it—without making any other changes to my diet. Here’s what I discovered.
Fiber requires planning
Virtually every diet involves eating plenty of fruits of vegetables, and a high-fiber diet is no exception. But just eating my normal dose of daily fruits and vegetables wasn’t going to get me to the 25-gram fiber mark. A medium apple, for example, has only four grams of fiber. Same for a banana, a cup of strawberries, and a cup of Brussels sprouts.
Four grams of fiber is still significant, but at that rate, I’d have to eat two of those fruits or vegetables at every meal to hit 25 grams. That’s a worthy goal, but I wasn’t sure I’d be able to reach it—and even if I did, I’d still be one gram short for the day.
Instead, I decided to focus on the fruits and vegetables that pack the most fiber into one serving. I planned to eat…
