Lower CholesterolWhat 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 course How to Lower Cholesterol in 8 Simple Steps at http://lowercholesterolwithlisa.com.
All the best,
Lisa Nelson RD
https://lisanelsonrd.com
Image courtesy of sritangphoto at freedigitalphotos.net.
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Where I send people for supplements
Food first, always. When a supplement is worth considering, the front of the bottle is marketing and the supplement facts panel is the actual content. Two bottles at the same price can differ by half in what they deliver.
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