What equals 25 – 35 grams of dietary fiber?
I recently had an individual email me the following question:
How much fiber do I need to eat to equal 25 grams? How many pieces of fruit, slices of bread, cups of barley or flaxseed? I can’t relate to 25 grams.
I want to share the answer with everyone. Read on. . .
How Much Dietary Fiber
You need to consume between 25-35 grams of dietary fiber daily. Of this, soluble fiber should make up 15 grams. For every 1-2 grams of daily soluble fiber intake, LDL (bad) cholesterol is lowered 1%.
The average US dietary fiber intake is 12-18 grams/day. If your current diet is very low in dietary fiber, do not increase to 35 grams overnight. A sudden increase will result in gastrointestinal (stomach) distress and unpleasant side effects (flatulence and diarrhea). You want to increase your intake gradually.
Top 5 Foods Containing Dietary Fiber
- Legumes – 15-19 grams of fiber per cup
- Wheat bran – 17 grams per cup
- Prunes – 12 grams per cup
- Asian pear – 10 grams each
- Quinoa – 9 grams per cup
Two fruits worth mentioning are the raspberry (8 grams dietary fiber per cup) and blackberry (8 g dietary fiber per cup).
Each of the following contains 2 grams of soluble fiber:
1 cup cooked oatmeal
1 cup oat bran
1 cup collard greens
1 cup cooked rye cereal
1 cup cooked barley
1 cup lentils
½ avocado
1 cup broccoli
1 cup parsnips
1 cup Brussels sprouts
6 prunes
1 large sweet potato
½ cup apricots or figs
¼ cup ground flax seeds
½ cup sunflower seeds
Read food labels to increase your dietary fiber intake. If you select foods that are whole grain and eat at least 5 servings of fruits and vegetables everyday, you will likely meet your daily fiber needs.
Be sure to sign up for the free e-course How to Lower Cholesterol in 8 Simple Steps at http://lowercholesterolwithlisa.com.
All the best,
Lisa Nelson RD
http://lisanelsonrd.com
Image courtesy of sritangphoto at freedigitalphotos.net.
