Fiber and Weight Loss

I just wanted to share with you an interesting article I ran across in regards to fiber and weight loss. It's towards the bottom of the page if you check out the link. Here is a quote:

"Several studies have shown that people who doubled their intake of fiber from 12 grams of fiber to 24 grams (most health organizations recommend that you consume about 30 grams of fiber a day) actually cut their calorie absorption by 90 calories a day!"

I noticed that after cutting a lot of fiber out of my diet, I don't lose weight as easily. I was avoiding aprox 180 calories out of my diet because I was eating around 60 grams, and dropped it to around 15 grams. Fiber helps you "go" and feel fuller longer. It really has it's benefits! Just thought I'd share that with ya.

Article also states a warning: "One word of caution, if you currently don’t consume very much fiber, gradually add foods with fiber to your diet. Adding fibrous foods too quickly can make your stomach hurt by causing gas and bloating."

I'm not saying go crazy on fiber, but make sure you get at least the recommended 30 grams in your diet. :) My cup of fiber one for breakfast provides that much for me.

Add your comments and favorite "high fiber" foods so we can generate a list! 

Very good info - some of it I'd seen prior to this, but not that actual calorie absorption rate.  Very interesting! 

Thanks for posting this!

I picked up some Fiber tablets at the Health Food store to supplement my diet, because my endocrinologist suggested that increasing my fiber intake would help with weight loss. She also said that eating natural fiber (in food) was best, but that taking bulk fiber, would be a great supplement.

We'll see how it goes.

=^..^=  Molly

I went to my doctor because I wasn't seeing any results even though I was cutting my calories to 1200 a day and working out 5-6 times a week. She said two things:

increase my calories and GET MORE FIBER!

I've lost my first 5 pounds finally :)

molly-  she told me NOT to take the supplements. I didn't ask why, but here's my theory:
When you are getting 30-35 grams from natural sources, you are eating really great, low cal foods taht are just naturally great for dieters. Getting 35 grams naturally is pretty difficult, so you HAVE to eat lots and lots of fruits, nuts and veggies. When you're counting calories, you'll see that after eating all that you need to satisfy your fiber goal - you've already met your calorie goal. No room for ice cream :)... anyway - just my opinion

Hope it works for you!

Very cool statistic. Thanks for sharing that. About a year ago I way upped my fiber, hoping it woud help me reduce cholesterol. It didn't...  but I am never hungry. I'm also 51, 128 pounds, maintaining the lowest body weight of my adult life, and maintaining much easier than when in the 130s years ago.  I felt it was due to fiber, and also increased exercise.

I start every day with a bowl of oatmeal. I actually do my own multi-grain mix, that is 80% oatmeal, plus other stuff like bulgur, miller, steel-cut oats and so on... much more interesting texture. I really miss this breakfast when I don't have it. So I always take it with me when traveling.  Eating 1500 to maintain, to get up to 30 grams of fiber per day, means I have to eat fiber at every opportunity... really very little room for sugar, white flour and excess fat. Legumes is a good source.  I cook up a large quantity of dried beans at a time, refrigerate, then have it for lunches, often with salsa.

Awesome!! Thanks for sharing this - so in addition to helping us avoid colon cancer, Fiber also helps us trim our tummies!

If you are looking for a high fiber booster food - check out the new Fiber One Raisin Bran

Fiber One Raisin Bran Nutritional Information

That link is a picture of it with all the nutritional information. I eat a bowl of that every morning and usually have to REMIND myself to eat - and I love the cereal.

My favorite breakfast is a bowl of old fashioned oats and 1-2 slices of oraweat bread. I get about 10 grams in just b-fast. TMI: I also noticed that if I do this I am consistent everyday!!!

I thought I'd share this with you people.

In the Vitamin Shoppe (it's a store in NYC, I'm not sure if it exists outside NY) there's this generic brand of Fiber pills made by Vitamin Shoppe, it's made up of like 5 different fibers so you get the benefits of 5 different sources. It's about 4 dollars for 100 Capsules.


I went to look at the bottle just now and it's about 4 inches in height. There's a larger version that's like 8 inches in height but it has about 250 pills. I've had the 100 capsules since like May and they still haven't run out. You should just get that if you need fiber.

I just picked a (used) 1975 diet book on fiber by a doctor Sanford Siegal MD. He explains why fiber helps you lose weight.

1) The outer cell wall of most plants are made of cellulose, which is indigestible to humans. Nevertheless cellulose is a carbohydrate, and so assigned a calorie number. So if you eat 100 calories of kernel corn, your body can't digest the cellulose part, and so doesn't receive the full 100 calories from the corn. In contrast, your body absorbs 100% of a sugary soda.

2)  Because fiber has bulk, it passes through your system quicker, and  your digestive system has less time to absorb calories in all the foods you eat. In contrast, low fiber foods are slow moving, so your body has more time to absorb the calories.

3) High fiber foods take more time to eat, and are filling.

Great topic and one of my favorites.  The only short cut I take with fiber is natural psyllium husks that I get from a health food store near my house.  I don't know why but the pills never worked for me.  I have to eat the fiber for a digestive illness but it has it's weight loss bennies too!  For example, if I've run out of calories for the day I can eat a few handfulls of fiber one (really low cal) and feel satisfied, or I drink some water with the psyllium husks and I feel full.  Also, that new Fiber One Raisin Bran is really yummy!  So far I find the Fiber One cereals to have the highest fiber count. 

I love the idea of high fiber food list! hope we can get that started.  Here are a few of my suggestions

Apples and Pears have high fiber compared to other fruits, Any Fiber One product! Legumes, high in fiber! Dried fruits (but high in cals)

 

I love fiber! Ya i eat my fiber one every morning. Sprinkle some cinnamon on it, and theres breakfast. I also love oatmeal. Veggies are good too.

I just found a SUPER food to add to my collection, but I just ordered it online so i havent tried it yet. It's PASTA made by Fiber Gourmet. The whole wheat pasta has 20 grams of fiber per 2 oz serving, and it's 120 cals for that 2 ounces. That's what I call super food.

I'll let you all know how it tastes. I'm excited to try it. 

Here's something I posted yesterday on another thread, where we were discussing the benefits of foods as they were created vs the way they've been altered:

At a military base in South Africa a doctor did a study comparing prisoners, who ate vegetables, grains and breads (which they had grown) to a group of soldiers who ate processed sugars, white bread, and other refined foods.  Both groups consumed the same number of calories.  Fecal matter from each was examined, over several days.  The feces of the soldiers contained 20% of the calories they consumed.  The feces of the prisoners contained 60%.  This explains why if you spend more of your calories on refined sugar or flour than on fruits and vegetables you will become overweight.

In other words, those eating refined flour retained 80% of their calories compared to 20% retained by those who ate high fiber flour.

I have a great hi fiber "food". It's actually a vegetable juice that I get at Whole Foods called "Super Veggie" by Lakewood.  It's 100% organic, and I have 12 ounces (2 servings) for 80 calories, and 8 grams of fiber! you also get 100% of your vitamin A, 150% Vitamin C, 40% Vitamin E, 32% Iron, and 50% of Folate! And I think it tastes much better than V-8!

We may be on to some thing. Can't wait to try Super Veggie because I like V-8.  Beans are really high in fiber. 1 cup of black beans have 15 grams of fiber!! 

15 grams for black beans? I was un-aware. Fiber + Protein is always a good thing. My fiber is usually teamed inside carbs. Bad bad me :)

I'm going to search out a list of high fiber foods. 

Found them!

And it's black beans for the win :)

Mayo Clinic - High Fiber Foods

But like my discovered pasta, and my fiber one, I know there's gotta be more foods out there like that. Is fiber that is found in pasta and cereal considered a supplement? 

Sorry, duplicate post

Yah, but the calories in Black Beans? 662 for one cup?  Yikes!  That's about half of my calorie count for the day?!

Hubby loves to make a black bean chili, which we thought was so healthy and good for us, 'cuz it has virtually no fat and lots of veggies and is tasty.  Then I input the recipie into the CC recipie analyzer: it was 1,000 calories a serving!  And I'm supposed to have 1,200 calories a day!  Ugh, no more black bean chili for me...

But I have to agree that I love high-fiber foods.  Peaches and plums are good, so is Honeydew melon...

I think you are confusing the calories of dried and cooked black beans. I just consulted my calorie guides (I own three) and they list cooked black beans at about 100 to 130 per half cup.  Cooked dried beans have the same calorie range as most cooked grains.  But also because they are so high in fiber, many of these calories won't be absorbed anyway. 

Thanks, Shiptona, excellent point. 

But CC has Raw beans at 663 Kcal, and the cooked beans at 227 Kcal, each for 1 cup serving.  I wonder how cooking changes the calorie count?  Does the bean absorb so much water that it expands so that fewer beans fit into 1 cup?  I'll need to do more research...

I have to just chime in here with the fact that I do not like it when the calorie count for something is in the form that you would never eat. like unpopped popcorn or dried beans.  I mean who needs that info and another thing!  there is no easy way to convert the cals for dried vs the cals for cooked. 

ok, done ranting....