A high-fibre diet lowers the risk of dementia, heart disease, and multiple cancers. Photo / 123RF
Q: You talk a lot about how important it is to eat a high-fibre diet but that most Americans don’t meet their daily recommended fibre goals. I’m curious what you personally do to reach that goal.
A: Many of my patients automatically picture a “high-fibre diet” as a life of kale salads and never seeing a slice of white toast again.
That’s not true – or at least it doesn’t have to be. As a gastroenterologist and busy mum, I operate on three big principles with my meals: They have to be easy to pull off (spending two hours prepping Instagram-worthy bento box lunches isn’t who I am), and I have to actually like my food. The easiest way to form healthier habits is to minimise the barriers to achieving them.
And third, I always want to surpass my fibre goals. For women under 50, we want to be consuming 25g of fibre per day; for men under 50, it’s 38g of fibre daily. Women over 50 should aim for 21g a day, and men over 50 should be getting 30g a day.
But studies have found that only 7% of American adults are hitting these targets. That’s a problem because fibre is important not just for your gut, but for your overall health. A high-fibre diet is associated with a lower risk of dementia, heart disease and multiple cancers, as well as with improved overall longevity.
So I’m going to walk you through a typical weekday of food for me, offering two options for meals and snacks. (Keep in mind that these fibre estimates can vary depending on the kinds and sizes of the specific foods you choose.)
As you formulate your own plan, remember that eating a variety of fibre sources – colourful fruits and vegetables, nuts, beans and whole grains – is the best path to a healthy microbiome and overall wellbeing. And choose wisely: Watermelon and iceberg lettuce are cool and hydrating but have hardly any fibre, so try pairing them with higher-fibre fruits and vegetables such as kiwis and peas. Look up the nutrition facts of foods you eat regularly and see where you can optimise the math, such as by adding hummus to your favourite sandwich.
I also use fibre supplements every day: I mix psyllium husk powder into my coffee – and if I’m making pancakes for the family on the weekend, I mix one or two tablespoons of ground flax seeds and ½ cup of rolled oats into the batch. No one notices, and it’s a no-brainer way to boost your fibre intake.
I like making overnight oats that I can grab on my way out the door and eat at work. But I don’t always remember to prepare them the night before. On those days, I eat a high-fibre cereal (I buy ones with less than 5g to 6g of added sugar). I use oat milk mainly because it stays fresh in the fridge longer than cow’s milk, so it’s one less thing I have to deal with mentally.
Bowl of cereal: 8g of fibre
- 1 cup high-fibre cereal: 6g
- 1 cup oat milk: 2g
Overnight oats: 8.5g of fibre
- Half a cup rolled oats: 4.5g
- 1 cup oat milk: 2g
- Quarter cup dried cranberries: 2g
I tend to eat Indian food that I’ve cooked for dinners earlier in the week and saved the leftovers for myself. That means lentils, which are loaded with fibre, or saag paneer, which also packs a punch from the spinach. The yumminess of lentils cooked with an appropriately deeply browned onion is very underappreciated. Try my favourite recipe from Madhur Jaffrey for moong dal. Other days, I buy my favourite spicy cashew crispy rice salad.
Lentils and brown rice: 7g of fibre
- ½ cup cooked lentils: 5g
- ½ cup cooked brown rice: 2g
I don’t keep chips or crackers in my office – just a big container of roasted cashews. I make it easy for myself because I do genuinely love cashews and not having another option available makes it the only choice if I feel hungry.
Coffee and cashews: 11g of fibre
- 1 cup brewed coffee with 2 teaspoons psyllium husk powder: 9g
- ½ cup cashews: 2g
Dinner with my toddlers has to be quick, easy and something we’re all going to enjoy because my husband and I don’t have time to make everyone separate meals. Luckily, everyone loves pasta. Some days, we use whole wheat or lentil pasta – but not always. Assuming we’re just going with refined wheat pasta, here’s how the fibre math breaks down for my family favourites.
Spaghetti and chicken meatballs: 8.5g of fibre.
- 1 cup refined wheat spaghetti: 2.5g
- ½ cup marinara sauce: 2g
- Chicken meatballs: 0g
- ½ cup peas: 4g
One-skillet gnocchi and Brussels sprouts: 5.5g of fibre
- 1 cup gnocchi: 2g
- 1 cup Brussels sprouts: 3.5g
After dinner, we have a tradition where my toddlers use tiny cookie cutters to make fun shapes out of fruit. Usually it’s kiwis (which as a gastroenterologist, I’m obsessed with for many reasons) or pears (they use a bear-shaped cookie cutter, and we call them “bear pears”).
- 2 kiwis: 6g
- 1 pear: 6g
This adds up to around 40G-42g of fibre a day. Even if I skip the occasional extra like psyllium, a snack or dessert – or eat white rice instead of brown rice – I still clock in well above my target of 25g per day.
Suddenly ramping up fibre intake when you’re not used to it can sometimes cause an upset stomach or bloating. Go gently and give your body time to adapt – but stick with it! The long-term payoff for your health is worth it.