I had a client tell me recently that she eats tons of fiber every day... and then when I asked her to track her food journal, it was very eye-opening.

The real number came out somewhere between 4 and 6 grams daily (she was shooting for at least 25 grams). Yikes.

This happens all the time! Most of us assume that if we're having a salad most days, we're reaching our fiber goals (I used to think this, too!). But the reality is that something like a Caesar salad gets you to about 2 grams of fiber. That colorful bowl of greens is going to get you a LOT less fiber than it looks like it is.

I saw this post recently and thought it was such a great visual for what we THINK is loaded with fiber versus what actually is...

Both plates are healthy whole foods… but the fiber difference between them is crazy.

The HIGH fiber plate (about 33-35g fiber total):

• 100g raspberries (~6.5g)
• 1 apple (4-5g)
• 100g Brussels sprouts (~4g)
• 2 tbsp chia seeds (~8g)
• 100g beans (6-7g)
• ¼ cup dry lentils, cooked (7-8g)

If you eat those foods throughout the day (not in the same meal!), you will get around 33-35 grams. And with that amount of fiber, you stay full, your energy stays steady, and you're not needing a snack every hour.

To compare, here’s the LOW fiber plate breakdown (about 5-7g total):

• 50g white rice, cooked (~1g)
• 1 cup canned green beans (~2g)
• 100g celery (1-2g)
• a handful of romaine (~1g)
• 1 rice cake (~1g)

To be clear, nothing on the lower fiber plate "bad"... it's just that this kind of plate digests super fast, which means hunger comes right back.

If you feel like you're eating "clean" but you're still hungry all the time, still snacky, still thinking about food an hour after you ate... look at your fiber!

Ok, but do we actually need to care about fiber?

Fiber is about SO much more than staying regular (though it does that, too). It feeds and supports a healthy gut microbiome, which is the foundation for everything else, and research ties adequate fiber to a stronger immune system, lower inflammation, and reduced risk for heart disease, stroke, hypertension, obesity, Type 2 diabetes, and several cancers including colon and breast cancer.

But here's why it’s relevant for those of us working on skin, hormones, and feeling good in our bodies...

Your skin: Fiber is one of the main ways your body actually clears out toxins and excess hormones - it binds them up in the gut and escorts them out. When fiber is low, your body recirculates a lot of what it's trying to get rid of (including excess estrogen), and for a lot of women, that shows up on the face as acne. If you've been chasing acne with serums and supplements but never looked at your fiber, this is something to start taking more seriously.

Your hormones: That same detox pathway is huge for hormone balance. Sluggish elimination means estrogen that should be leaving your body gets reabsorbed instead, and that imbalance is at the root of so much of what we deal with - breakouts, PMS, heavy periods... Fiber keeps your whole hormonal system balanced.

Your weight and your cravings: Fiber slows digestion, steadies your blood sugar, and keeps you genuinely full, which means fewer crashes, fewer 3pm cravings, and way less of that constant snacking that quietly adds up. So much of what feels like a "discipline" issue is really just a satiety issue... and fiber helps you feel satiated!

Overall, I'm a big believer in a high-protein diet, but one thing that happens when you go high-protein is that fiber tends to drop. I've been guilty of this myself! (Here’s a post I wrote a whole back about hitting my protein AND fiber goals)

Protein and fiber aren't an either/or, and most of us just need to be a little more intentional about getting BOTH on the plate.

TL;DR

So, what to actually do with all this...

✨ Aim for AT LEAST 25-30g of fiber a day (and closer to 30-35g is even better).

✨ Build your meals around fullness and fiber, not just calories or protein.

✨ Focus on the heavy hitters (see my list here) - berries, lentils, beans, chia, Brussels sprouts, apples, raspberries - the foods that actually move the needle for fiber goals, instead of just going for “plants”.

My biggest tip:

Track fiber for even a couple of days, the way my client did. I think the number will surprise you... it surprises almost everyone!

In health,

-Daina

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​tabletocrave.com​

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