Dietary Fiber - What is It and Can It Help Me Lose Weight?
A few times now, I’ve had commenters mention having more fiber in my diet. I feel like such a nutritional newbie, but I really had no clue about fiber except that it is in Metamucil (that’s a link to a free sample!).
So, I decided to do some digging to find out more about mysterious dietary fiber.
Dietary fiber is the kind of fiber that you actually eat.
“It is the part of the plant that your body can’t digest. Yet it is an important part of a healthy diet. It adds bulk to your diet and makes you feel full faster, helping you control your weight.”
[via Medicine Plus]
At first I was confused. Your body can’t digest it…yet it’s good for you. But for controlling weight, it makes sense to eat fiber so you feel fuller longer. In doesn’t simply go in and out like fats, proteins, etc.
According to the Mayo Clinic, there are two types of dietary fiber:
1.) Insoluble Fiber (doesn’t dissolve in water) - This is the kind that can help you if you have constipation or irregular stools. You can get insoluble fiber from whole wheats, nuts and vegetables.
2.) Soluble Fiber (dissolves in water) - This is the kind that can help lower blood cholesterol and glucose levels. You can get soluble fiber from oats, apples and barley to name a few.
Personally, right now I get more soluble fiber than insoluble fiber. I love my apples. On the other hand, I probably do not get much insoluble fiber. I have never been a fan of whole wheats or vegetables. The good news is that both are good for you and as long as you try to obtain dietary fiber from a variety of sources that is a good thing.
Now that I know about dietary fiber and some of the benefits, I’m convinced I need to add more to my diet. Now I need to familiarize myself with foods rich in dietary fiber.
The Mayo Clinic has a great list of high fiber foods that includes the amount of dietary fiber in a serving here. Looking through, I actually see a lot of foods that sound good to me:
- Apples
- Strawberries (one of my favorites!)
- Peaches
- Raisins (although I’m curious why grapes are not listed)
- Bran Flakes
- Pistachio Nuts
- Cashews
- Baked Potato with Skin
- Corn
- Peas (I only like fresh)
Of course, there are more foods (prunes are one - I bought some during our last grocery trip 
), but that list there is a good start for me. Now I just have to work it into my daily food intake.
Family Doctor has some great suggestions to sneak dietary fiber into your diet and basically boils down to a few simple changes one can make:
- Eat more fruits and vegetables
- Replace white bread and rice with whole grain versions
- Eat bran cereal for breakfast
- Add some wheat bran to foods you eat normally
- Eat cooked beans
Before I started reading about dietary fiber, I was a little intimidated. It didn’t sound like it would be in foods that I like to eat. But it turns out it is, so now it’s time to incorporate more of it in my diet.
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Comments
Just wanted to stop by and say thank you for starting this blog. It’s been quite the inspiration for me today. I’ve been off and on with eating better and exercising, but I’ve never actually committed to a routine simply because everything out there seemed to be either really drastic or it just didn’t fit with my lifestyle. And I didn’t want to disappoint myself by not meeting a weigh loss goal so I just never set one.
This morning was the first HEALTHY morning I’ve had in a long time (woke up early enough to eat breakfast AND go to the gym) and I realized that it’s going to take more than just wishful thinking to keep my head in the game. And then I stumbled upon your blog, what timing!
I’ve picked up tips about what foods I should incorporate into my diet and how to use simple task (such as daily weighing to keep me on my toes and drinking water for the sake of drinking water). My goal is to make these things a daily force of habit rather than a rigorous and dreadful routine. I finally understand what will work for me thanks to your blog!
Good info. Also try switching your white rice out for brown rice. It takes a bit longer to cook (about 40 minutes) and it’s a bit chewier, but the extra health benefits are worth it.
Grapes aren’t considered high in fiber because fiber stats are calculated by dividing the amount of fiber by the volume of the food. Since grapes have so much water (also good for you!), they don’t seem to have much fiber because of that extra volume. Raisins don’t have the water, so the fiber is more concentrated.
Elissa - you are very welcome. That is awesome that you are ready to make it happen! We can do this!
MVP - We have since purchased brown rice instead of white but haven’t tried it yet. You should have seen my husband’s face! LOL. The good thing about this is that he’ll be eating healthier too.
Daisy - that makes so much sense!! Thank you for bringing it up!
Kristina - I bought some bran cereal and have had it a few times for breakfast so far. I actually like it - and so does my son!
How did beans not make this discussion? I try to integrate them into most meals. You can make some great burritos or chilis. Beans are extremely cheap which should appeal to the Blogging Away Debt side of you.
I eliminated most breads from your diet. Instead I use high fiber, high protein tortillas.
Very true that beans are cheap, but they do not fare well with the husband side of Blogging Away Fat or Debt 
Some of the easiest ways to get more fiber:
- buy a healthy high-fiber cereal. Here’s a link that compares fiber cereal: http://www.cnn.com/FOOD/resources/food.for.thought/grains/cereal/compare.dry.fiber.html
All Bran is good. I get Trader Joes fiber cereal.
- oatmeal
- lentils
- you can also buy psysillium husk (not sure if I spelled that correctly), which is just the powdered actual fiber. Then you mix it into whatever you are eating or drinking to increase the fiber content.
Good luck!