Why YSK: fiber is important for optimal human health. It helps us avoid diabetes, heart disease, colon cancer, obesity, and other diseases. This is particularly important in developed countries such as mine (USA) that are suffering greatly from these diseases.
The recommended daily fiber intake is 25g for women and 38g for men in the USA, and 95% of us don’t meet this amount. This suggests an urgent need for us to increase our daily fiber intake, which can be achieved by swapping out ultra-processed foods and animal foods that are void of fiber with whole plant foods such as fruits, vegetables, legumes, whole grains, nuts, and seeds.
Does the USDA recommend single mode or multi mode?
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This is purely anecdotal, but I started meal prepping with a pile of mixed vegetables and chicken, and my bowel movements have never been smoother. Like, the difference was legitimately addicting. Haha. An effortless shit everyday is such a massive game changer.
What vegetables?
Literally just mixed peas, carrots and beans from a frozen package haha
I’ll often toss a frozen package in the microwave to go with whatever I’m eating for dinner, then any leftovers go in the fridge to be remicrowaved the next night (they rarely make it more than 2 nights though, otherwise I’d be more careful about over-reheating)
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Thing is, I never have better shits than when I eat like absolute crap.
Hotdogs or a fry up, and it just flies out like a greased otter. Draw an ace every time.
When I go on a health kick and eat vegetables, it’s legit like wiping a marker pen.
the “when i go on a health kick” would be the problem, you kinda can’t “go on a health kick”, you don’t have a health bar that can be periodically topped up while otherwise eating garbage.
it’s much better to always eat one carrot per meal than to have one meal per week that consists solely of carrots, not only does that give your body a baseline to work with, but it also means you get used to eating that carrot and eventually you start to quite enjoy it, and the thought of not eating a carrot with your meal feels a bit wrong, and adding another carrot to each meal isn’t a very daunting prospect.
I used to subsist basically entirely on fast food, and at this point any meal without some proper vegetables feels somewhat unpalatable. I’ve also just straight up replaced candy with simply eating more food, and candy holds little appeal now. Why suck on a caramel when i can eat a tasty sandwich instead?
You’ve got to slowly ease yourself into a healthy lifestyle, and experiment around to find out what works for you. Maybe you love boiled vegetables, maybe you absolutely hate them but instead crispy fried ones herald the choirs of angels.
Ease your way into the healthy diet.
I’ve been working out more (and biking daily) and the post workout shit is always an amazing feeling.
I started using complex fiber supplements (as in whole dried ground foods with multiple sources and types of fiber) about a month ago, honestly life changing, cannot recommend enough.
…i parsed that as ‘once a month’ and pondered your ensuing lifestyle…
Wow, why such a discrepancy between men and women?
On average, men big, women smol.
The fiber ratio in this post is extremely close to the weight ratio between my wife and me.
Shouldn’t it just be weight dependent then, or is that too complicated to communicate?
i’d wager a lot of people have no earthly clue what their weight is, though i do think there’s little point in even bothering with giving any sort of specific advice about fibre at all, just state the number that covers 90% of people. There isn’t really such a thing as too much fibre, and i can all but guarantee that anyone who reads it won’t get even close to the recommended amount anyways, they’ll just eat a bit more vegetables (which is good).
Thanks for the reminder. I keep forgetting to look out for chia & flax seeds when grocery shopping…
Psyllium husk is a really affordable way to add fiber, just BE AWARE OF DOSAGE, when they say TEASPOON. THEY MEAN IT!
LFMF.
What this person means is that IF YOU OVERDO IT YOU WILL SHIT YOUR BRAINS OUT AND IT WILL BE AN EMERGENCY.
But that first purge feels so healthy though!
Ironically if you don’t take enough water with it, you’ll get constipated. It’s used for treating both.
That’s not really the concern. It’s just bulk. As long as it is well hydrated when you consume it, it’s very inert and you can’t really have too much. If it’s still partially dry, it’ll jam you up until it sucks enough water out of you, so that’s no good.
Finally, a pro-health justification for eating the whole container of oatmeal cookies.
Reading this as someone blessed with whole grain rye-wheat mix bread, heck I can even buy the flour to make my own bread.
Change to whole grain, folks!
Eat your veggies and fruit people.
I believe, you’re missing a comma there. Probably don’t want people eating people. 🙃
You show me a sapient pineapple and I’ll show you a crime scene.
As some people here already know since I talk about it endlessly, I have a weird medical condition where I have not eating solid foods in almost a year now. You have no idea how much fiber you need just to have decent bowel functions when you start at a base of zero.
I drink four cans of V8 and take 2 Metamucil capsules a day to get me up to about 30g. Still less than the recommended amount, but it’s all I can manage at the moment.
Before that, there were a couple of times when the constipation was so painful that I literally started yelling, “OH FUCK! OH FUCK! OH FUCK!”
🤣
You should also know that there’s soluble and insoluble fiber. Both are important, but what people are more likely to lack is insoluble fiber.
Do you know if chia seeds have insoluble fiber
Yes, they are a great source of insoluble fiber.
I think I’ve started reaching this amount recently since I’ve changed my diet and started eating more oatmeal and fruits/vegetables. With that said, fiber can actually cause problems for some people, it can cause bloating/pain for some people even with adequate water intake to match the fiber.
If you suddenly add the recommended dosage to your diet, you will absolutely have problems like that at first.
It’s ideal to slowly increase your fiber intake so your body has time to adjust to it. That way those problems are minimized until it’s a regular part of your diet.To be fair, I added them to my diet without ramping up without issues, and there are people who can ramp them up and their body never adjusts to it/handles it properly. It all depends on the person, ultimately.
Your body needs time to adjust, you should work your way up to it.
True, but some people’s bodies don’t need time to adjust, and some people’s bodies are unable to adjust, it just depends on the person.
if your body can’t handle fibre, that’s not fibre being bad, that’s it telling you that you need to start getting in contact with medical professionals to make sure you stay healthy.
Not necessarily true, some people just don’t tolerate fiber well. It doesn’t mean that they absolutely definitely have something medically wrong, for some people it just causes bloating no matter what. Still, it doesn’t hurt to check with a doctor when unsure.
We highly recommend Benefiber for anyone. It is tasteless, doesn’t change the texture of your food or drink, and can be added to almost anything.
I think many people avoid adding fiber to their diets because it requires a change in diet or a supplement that is often gross.
Edit: Here’s a link. https://www.benefiber.com/fiber-supplement-products/benefiber-powder/
Better than psyllium husk?
I think so, yes. At least from a taste and texture standpoint, it is waaaay better. Psyllium husk (Metamucil) changes the texture of drinks and foods, causing them to congeal into a viscous gel.
Benefiber does not change the texture of the food or drink and is odourless and tasteless.
I will note however, after a quick google just now, that Metamucil was shown in a study to lower cholestrol while Benefiber did not.
For me though, it’s all about what changes I can make and stick to, and something that changes texture is very hard for me to get down.
I can get psyllium husks in tablet form. No need to mix it with anything.
In results, no.
In ease of consumption, yes.
You would be so much better off changing your diet, though.
I think I’m using a similar thing and I agree that it’s ideal.
This is what I do. I get the giant jugs at Costco and put them in the cabinet where we keep all our coffee stuff. Every morning I scoop it into my coffee before making it and it’s so easy. You’d never even know it was in the drink as it dissolves completely once stirred.
If you buy a supplement, definitely get the fine ground. I made the mistake of buying course ground and it’s like adding orange juice pulp to everything because it’s so chunky.
Same! First cup of coffee every day is the powder cup, goes in with the splenda. :)
Thank you!
Vegetables measured in units of 120mL (because it’s half of some cups) is really stupid.
Lol that’s hilarious. I laugh so much at the crazy mixing of units we use here in the US. Similarly, it’s quite common to see metric and customary units in the same sentence, as in “add 1 tablespoon to 100 mL of water”.
that article is written by vegan spiders, who sink their fangs into the tender flesh of a carrot and drain it of its essence, leaving only a withered stick behind.
Realistically it looks like the majority of my fiber intake is about to become oats and popcorn…
You can throw some chia seeds in the oats to add to it. Doesn’t change the taste or anything.
Ah but you assume I will remember to BUY Chia seeds 😂
Yeah, actually acquiring them is pretty critical to the whole idea.
This also relates to jaw and gum health too. Most folks eat too soft a diet as well (fibrous foods often require more chewing).
i really wish someone would bring to market dentastix but for humans, make a slightly abrasive rubbery stick that i can just sit and gnaw on like cowboys with a straw of grass.
would not only improve jaw health, but help clean your teeth a bit at the same time!
