Fiber overrated?

They say the recommended daily fiber intake for women is at minimum, 25g.  But is this just a guideline just to make sure people eat enough vegetables, fruit, and whole grain products?  Like, there's a difference between eating some slices of bread versus supplementing something with some wheat bran to get to the same 25g?  In this instance, should the person just nix the supplement because it's just fiber, not an actual food group?  I ask because I often come short to 20g fiber or something, and I eat brown rice as my grain, which has a lot less fiber than whole wheat bread.  I mean, as long as I eat my 5 servings of fruits and veggies every day and the right grains, it should be fine, right?

I'm confused about how you eat brown rice, fruits and vegetables and still only consume 20 g of fiber daily?

There are two main types of fiber - soluble and insoluble. Insoluble fiber (roughage) helps digestion. It also helps you to feel fuller.

Soluble fiber helps to lower cholesterol, regulate blood sugar and may reduce heart disease.

So, the benefits of fiber go beyond the other benefits you will get from eating lots of fruits and vegetables. I guess a supplement is ok for improving digestion, but you would be a lot better off getting your fiber from real food.

If you're eating enough wholegrains, fruit and vegetables you should easily get 25g minimum of fibre.  Plus you're also getting the nutrition, vitamins and minerals from those foods.  This is obviously far superior to a supplement.   If you're only getting 20g fibre it means you're not eating enough vegetables and grains.... so add extra portions to meals and you'll be fine.

Aim for 5 portions vegetables, 2 or 3 portions of fruit and around 3 portions of wholegrain foods...

I dont' know...I eat generally 6 servings of veggies a day (about 10g), and a fourth cup of steel cut oats (4g), a slice of bread (3g), and 1-2 servings of rice (2-4g).  The rest is a lot of protein and some fats.  Should I just up the grains?  I feel that a caloric deficit would be easier if I just cut down on my grains and bulk a little bit more on the protein.

You mention 'protein' as if it is automatically fibre-free.   Fibrous sources of protein would be things like beans, lentils, chickpeas, tofu, nuts, seeds.  If you replace some meat/fish-based meals with meals based on those kinds of foods you can add more fibre to your diet. 

A serving of green vegetables should be 3 or 4oz and typically contains about 2.5-3.5g fibre.  If you're eating 6 portions you should be getting 15-20g there alone.  Some fruit would help... a medium apple or kiwifruit containing 3g each, for example.    Rather than rice occasionally, try some starchy vegetables like sweet potato or regular potatoes in their skins.  And rather than steel cut oats try something like All-Bran (9g fibre per 30g serving)

I was pleasantly surprised to find that an ounce of peanut butter has about 3 grams of fiber. There are a lot of sources for fiber!

Ah, I go by American government standards of servings where a serving counts as 2 cups of spinach (1.4g) or a cup of pumpkin (1g).  Should I therefore be eating a lot more of these "servings" of vegetables?

Thanks for the suggestions, gijane, about the beans.  I think I'll just try to eat more of those, even though my mother concerned about my health wants me to eat more animal meat.  And I'd totally get the All-bran, but a box costs $4 (plus I snack away on it in 2 days)!  And every store I've checked does not sell wheat bran =[