fun with fiber.

did you know that the “recommended” daily fiber intake for women younger than 50 is 25 grams? i didn’t. in fact, i never really pay attention to fiber. i know, i know, i should. i pay a lot of attention to protein, but always let those fiber grams fall by the wayside.

i always read about fiber in health and fitness mags.  i see things like “eat plenty of fiber to prevent diseases” or “make sure you eat enough fiber each day, it keeps you full” or the most common: “eat fiber to stay regular!” yes,  i know fiber is a good thing. and i know fiber is found in grains and veggies. but other than that, i wouldn’t say i am that educated when it comes to fiber.

i did a bit of research on fiber and thought i would share what i learned. you may already know all of this, but i didn’t.. so chances are some of you don’t.

there are two types of fiber: soluble and insoluble.  i found these handy tables from healthcastle.com:

good to know! i was happy to see that i eat plenty of sources of both soluble and insoluble fiber.

oh, are you wondering where all this fiber talk stemmed from??

well, i was recently sent fiber choice supplements for review.

upon receiving these fiber-filled fruit chews, i decided i wanted to learn a little more about fiber. not only the types of fiber, but also how much i should be consuming and what foods were high in fiber.. also, how much i already am consuming to see if i needed to be taking a fiber supplement.

so, today we are going to have a little fiber fun. i will post my meals, and you get to guess how many grams of fiber each meal has. there is no prize, but it still might be fun.  i guessed myself and was off. not way off, but definitely off. so, grab a piece of paper if you want to play along.. and let’s do this!

breakfast: mighty maple protein oats.

to be fair, i will tell you all the ingredients. 1/3 cup old fashioned oats cooked in 1 cup water, 2 scoops (one serving) vanilla whey protein powder, 1 tsp chia seeds and 1 TB mighty maple peanut butter.

now, write down the number of fiber grams you think my breakfast had.

lunch: tuna sandwich + veggies + hummus.

here are the details: one thomas 100% whole wheat bagel thin filled with 2 oz tuna mixed with 1 tablespoon of greek yogurt, plus a whole red bell pepper, about 3/4 cup sugar snap peas, about 15 baby carrots and 2 TB sabra pine nut hummus.

i also had a calcium disc.

go ahead and jot down your estimate for the amount of fiber in my lunch.

snack: lemon coconut simply bar.

today was national lemon chiffon cake day, and i decided this was close enough to consider it a celebration!

if you don’t know a lot about the simply bar then it may be hard to guess this one, but give it your best shot.

dinner: stuffed bell pepper.

for the pepper, i used my spinach turkey meatloaf recipe and omitted the flax and spinach (i am out) and added a cup of cooked quinoa because i am still on a quinoa kick.  go ahead, you know the drill.. write down your fiber guess.

i haven’t had my dessert yet.. but you can bet it will be the same thing i have had all week: apple crumb vitatop + 1/2 cup plain greek yogurt. so go ahead and add your guess for the grams of fiber in that to your list.

now add the five numbers up. i will wait…

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before tallying things up (i used thedailyplate.com), i thought i consumed around 20 grams of fiber today.  the actual number of grams consumed? 

 

here’s the breakdown:

• breakfast=5 grams
• lunch=12 grams (wow!)
• snack=1 gram
• dinner=4 grams
• dessert=8 grams (the vitatop had all 8 grams! wow)

so, as you can see, today i went above and beyond my “recommended” amount of fiber for the day. however, i tallied my fiber a few days last week, and some days i only hit 15 grams! those were the days that i totally neglected my veggie consumption and ate a lot of sugar. i think when i focus on eating clean, my fiber consumption increases without me even needing to focus on it.

on the days where i am lacking in the fiber department, i will be taking the fiber choice supplement. this is a simple and tasty way to reach my recommended daily fiber.  i seriously think these little sugar free discs are delicious!

i am like a little kid and it’s easier for me to take my vitamins and supplements when they taste like candy. (notice the adora chocolate calcium supplement i had at lunch).

each 2 disc serving is 4 grams of fruity fiber that helps aid calcium absorption (another new-to-me fact!)

so, if you are like me and want a supplement that tastes like candy and are in the market for a fiber supplement, i suggest you give this one a try.

that’s all the fiber fun for tonight, friends. hope it was action packed enough for you! oh.. and by the way.. that protein packed recipe i eluded to in my last post? it was a fail. still working on it—i will be sure to share when it is perfected!

Qs~

1. do you pay attention to your fiber intake? how much do you aim for?

2. were you low or high on your guess for the grams of fiber i ate today?

xo. janetha g.

*see my FTC disclosure.