Are You Getting Enough Fiber?

The answer is false.While adult women should consume 20 to 35 grams of dietary fiber per day, it’s estimated that the average American gets only 14 to15 grams daily, according to information from the Harvard School of Public Health. Getting enough fiber takes a conscious effort, but it’s certainly possible. For example, consider this for a typical day’s worth of meals: a banana for breakfast (3 grams of fiber), a sandwich for lunch using two slices of whole wheat bread (3 grams of fiber), an apple for an afternoon snack (3 grams of fiber), and 2/3 cup each of lentils and corn (6 grams) with dinner. This adds up to 20 grams of fiber, right on the low end of the recommended range. To bring your fiber content even higher, experts suggest a soluble fiber supplement, which can be mixed with water or blended into a smoothie.

The answer is true.If you love fruit, for instance, try pears and dried blueberries. A medium-sized banana or apple each have 3 grams of fiber as well as plenty of other vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants, while a medium-sized pear has 5 grams of fiber, says Janice Bissex, M.S., R.D., and author of The Moms' Guide to Meal Makeovers: Improving the Way Your Family Eats, One Meal at a Time. Bissex also suggests eating canned beans (1/4 cup contains about 3 grams of fiber) or black bean tortilla chips (10 chips have about 3 grams of fiber). When baking, she suggests using ground flax seed in your cake or pancake batters—1/4 cup adds 3 grams of fiber, and flax seed is also a great source of omega-3s, which is important for brain and heart health. Bissex herself adds canned pumpkin to her muffin recipes—1/4 cup has about 2 grams of fiber. "It may seem like only 1 or 2 grams here and there," she notes, "but it all adds up."

The answer is false.The difference between fresh and dried blueberries illustrates an important point. “While certain foods are very high in fiber, you can't talk about fiber in a vacuum,” explains Bissex. “1/4 cup of dried blueberries contains 136 calories versus 21 calories in the same measurement of fresh berries. You definitely have to consider your total daily calorie count when adding fiber."

The answer is true. Studies from leading health organizations such as the Harvard School of Public Health and the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center for Human Nutrition have shown that eating fiber may help reduce your risk of coronary heart disease and diabetes, among other conditions. And according to research presented at the American Heart Association’s March 2007 Annual Conference on Cardiovascular Disease Epidemiology and Prevention., whole-grain breakfast cereals are beneficial to your heart. The research revealed that participants who ate a whole-grain breakfast cereal seven or more times per week were 28 percent less likely to develop heart failure over the course of the study than those who never ate such cereal. In addition, the risk of heart failure decreased by 22 percent in those who ate whole-grain breakfast cereal two to six times per week and by 14 percent in those who ate a whole-grain breakfast cereal up to once per week.

An earlier study presented at the American Heart Association’s 2006 annual conference, revealed that a high fiber, low-fat diet helped overweight children reduce their cholesterol and insulin levels. The children, aged 9 to 15, ate a diet high in fruit, vegetables and whole grains while consuming moderate amounts of lean protein. After two weeks, total cholesterol levels fell an average of 21 percent, (LDL “bad” cholesterol dropped 25 percent) and insulin levels decreased around 30 percent, according to published reports about the study.