Fabulous Fiber

Content provided by the Faculty of the Harvard Medical School

Fabulous Fiber

What is fiber?

Fiber is the part of plant foods that the body cannot digest. It moves through the digestive system, absorbing water. This helps eliminate food waste from the body more quickly. Since fiber is not absorbed, it is not a nutrient. Rather, we refer to fiber as a "component" of food.

Fiber is found in plant foods .such as fruits, vegetables, dry beans and peas, nuts, seeds, bread, and cereals. (It is not found in animal products — meat, milk, eggs.) Fiber can also be added to foods during processing.

Fiber's Health Benefits

Fiber comes in two varieties: soluble, which dissolves in water, and insoluble, which does not. Although fiber does not nourish our bodies, it has other ways of promoting good health as the table below illustrates.

*NOTE: some foods can contain both types of fiber: oats, apples, pears, carrots

Let’s Talk Numbers

How much fiber do you need each day? The current recommendation for adults is 20 to 35 grams. Children over age 2 should consume an amount equal to their age plus 5 grams a day, (So a four year old, for example, should get 9 grams a day). The average American falls short of the ideal and eats only 10 to15 grams of dietary fiber a day.

To get more fiber add more fruits, vegetables, and whole grains in your diet with these easy tips:

• Add some berries on your breakfast cereal or try an apple with peanut butter for a snack.

• Have vegetables at each meal. Sauté with a little olive oil, steam, grill or just enjoy them raw.

• For an afternoon snack dip baby carrots and celery sticks in hummus.

• Cook with beans. Add them to your soups, pasta dishes, or try them on a salad.

• Choose whole grain breads (100% whole-wheat) and whole-wheat pasta, or brown rice.

Start slowly when you up your fiber intake, This will help relieve the potential bloating, cramping, and gas that some people experience when eating more fiber. Be sure to drink more water as well to help the fiber pass through the intestines more easily. Getting fiber naturally from foods assures you all of the other phytonutrients as well; however, fiber-only supplements exist if necessary for a fiber boost.

Label Reading 101:

You can figure out how much fiber a food contains by reading the package label. Keep in mind that the amount of fiber listed is based on the serving size, not the entire package. Foods that are an excellent source of fiber contain 5 grams or more per serving. See the chart below for examples of the fiber content of various foods.

* Information from Bowes and Church’s 2005 edition

Juice vs. the Whole Fruit

Juice is the concentrated form of fruit.Even though no sugar is added to the juice, it has more sugar than the whole fruit. Juice also lacks the fiber that naturally occurs in fruit. In general, the closer foods are to their natural, unprocessed state, the better. The chart below provides an example:

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Last updated:	August 21, 2006