Many people wonder how much fibre should you eat a day, so here are some interesting facts about Fibre that you might or might not have known about.
If you’ve been looking for a way towards a high octane diet, you’ll find fibre to be exactly what you need. Even though research has shown fibre to be powerful, many people aren’t taking this nutrient seriously enough.
So, How Much Fibre Should You Eat A Day?
The recommended daily intake of fibre a day, according to the American Heart Association, is 30 to 38 grams a day for men and 25 grams for women between 18 and 50. Older women should get about 21 grams a day.
If you can stay close to these guidelines when it comes to how much fibre should you eat a day, you have a great chance of maintaining a healthy digestive system.
Fibre Facts
To help you fuel your health with fibre here are some healthful fibre facts:
Fibre Fights Diseases
A diet high in fibre can help to prevent colon cancer and heart disease. A high fibre diet helps the body to eliminate cholesterol by binding it in the digestive tract. For thousands of years, fibre has been used to stop constipation.
Fibre Can Actually Help With Overeating
All high fibre foods will take longer to chew and digest, making you feel satisfied for longer.
Most Of The Popular Foods Don’t Have Enough Fibre
If you like the more popular foods, you probably need to increase your intake of fibre.
Grains Offer The Most Fibre
Dietary fibre is actually plant matter that we cannot digest. The best sources are whole grains and concentrated grain products.
Kids Need Fibre Too
Children that are older than 2 years of age should consume a daily intake of fibre.
Kids are most receptive to fibre found in fruits, vegetables, and even fortified breakfast cereals.
More Fibre Needs More Water
In order to keep fibre moving through your digestive tract, you’ll need to consume a lot of water. With your diet of fibre, you’ll need eight or more glasses of water every day.
Fibre Cannot Be Cooked Out
When you cook your fruits and vegetables, don’t worry about cooking the fibre out, as it stays within the food source. The fibre found in fruits and vegetables aren’t just in the skin or in the peel.
You Can Overdose On Fibre
If you eat more than 50 grams of fibre in a day, you can get diarrhoea and bloating, which can interfere with your body’s absorption of other key minerals.
Getting The Right Amount Of Fibre In Your Diet Doesn’t Have To Be Hard
Even though you may think so, getting the amount of fibre you need isn’t very hard to do. All you have to do is eat the right foods and you’ll be well on your way to a fibre rich lifestyle.
As one of the key ingredients to healthy eating, fibre is something you don’t want to skip. Fibre can serve many different purposes, which were covered above.
If you aren’t getting enough fibre in your diet – you should do something about now instead of waiting until it is too late.
I’ve always known the importance of fibre. Thanks for sharing these interesting facts about it. I see that the recommended amount for men is 30-38 grams. How many are these in terms of real food? For example how many oranges?
I didn’t know you could overdose on fibre. That’s interesting and thanks for that information. Are all fibre created equal?
Looking forward to more about fibre.
You would have to eat 3 to 4 oranges to get the daily amount of fibre in, so if you don’t want to eat so many you can rather go for things like bran cereals, wholewheat bread and also eat 5 to 7 portions of any other fruit and veggies each day.
I must say that I did not know that much about fibre. Two years ago I was using some fibre supplements because I was having a problem with my stomach but it was useless.
I will now turn on more natural fibre from plants as I think that it’s best to use natural fibers from food.
You are quite right Daniel. Nothing beats natural, and the better you eat, the better you end up feeling, both long term and now.
This article educated me more on fibre, though i have been in a seminar where we learned the benefits and immune boosting qualities of fibre but we were not taught how much fibre we should take per day.
From reading this article i deduced that as a man I can eat within 30 to 38 grams of fibre per day, which i will also tell my wife that she should not take more than 25 grams a day. Indeed you post educated me.
Glad to be of assistance Adebayo and thanks for your comment.
Thank you for the enlightening article. Now I know that I need around 25 gram fiber a day.
My husband needs to eat more fiber. He is suffering from obesity. How to know whether we have eat enough fiber or not? Because we eat the foods in a whole package. It contains fiber ( no nutrients ) and the nutrients mixture.
The best way to ensure you are eating enough fiber is to make sure you include whole grains, fruits and vegetable in every meal you eat.
Yep fibre is good for the body consumption because it definitely stops constipation the more you eat it like breakfast cereals,fruits, vegetables and indeed maize and indeed grains.
Oh yes kids need fibre too, let us not forget the more fibre intake the more dehydrated we gonna be so that is why In order to keep fibre moving through your digestive tract, you’ll need to consume a lot of water. With your diet of fibre, you’ll need eight or more glasses of water every day.
Lastly let us moderate fibre because we can not afford an overdose since the result of overdosing are absolutely and really not good so this note I bet all the best in goodwill hunting.
Hi and thanks for the dietary advice. I knew it was good to get fibre in your diet but did not know how much I should be consuming on a daily basis. Or how much it would take to overdose on fibre.
Guess its true what they say about too much of a good thing.
Thanks Kenny
It’s always good to remind ourselves of these things.
Thanks for stopping by Kenny.