In This ArticleView AllIn This ArticleWhy Fiber Promotes Healthy Weight LossHelping Regulate Blood SugarWhy You Might Feel That Fiber Causes Weight GainAre Fiber Supplements Good for Weight Loss?10 Ways to Increase Your Fiber IntakeFAQs
In This ArticleView All
View All
In This Article
Why Fiber Promotes Healthy Weight Loss
Helping Regulate Blood Sugar
Why You Might Feel That Fiber Causes Weight Gain
Are Fiber Supplements Good for Weight Loss?
10 Ways to Increase Your Fiber Intake
FAQs
Close
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Fiber may not be considered the most glamorous nutrient, butit is certainly important. Dietary fiber, abundant in plants, is an indigestible type of carbohydrate that aids in keeping your bowels regular, pulls LDL cholesterol away from the heart, increases feelings of fullness, regulates blood sugar and more. TheCenters for Disease Control and Preventionstates that a fiber-rich diet is linked to a lower risk of heart disease, diabetes and certain types of cancer.
Hence, increased intake of fibrous foods like fruit, vegetables, nuts, seeds, legumes and whole grains is encouraged for health benefits. But does eating fiber help with weight loss? And couldeating too muchmake you gain weight instead?
This article will discuss howfiber promotes weight loss, why you might feel it causes weight gain, fiber supplements, and 10 easy ways to increase your fiber intake.
Despite fiber’s many health benefits, over 90% of Americans do not consume the recommended amount of fiber (25 to 34 grams daily), according to the2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans.
How your body reacts to increasing fiber will be highly individual and can vary based on weight, overall health, diet quality and physical activity, to name a few.
Increasing Feelings of Fullness
Fiber has satiating power because it takes longer to chew, promoting saliva and gastric acid production, and it reduces gastric emptying (the rate at which food leaves the stomach). When you are fuller for longer, you are likely to eat less food, which can reduce your overall calorie intake (creating a calorie deficit) and lead to weight loss. Researchers note that the effects of fiber on one’s perceived satiety will depend on certain factors like the amount of fiber, molecular size and solubility, as well as the food matrix (solid, semi-solid or liquid food), per a 2019 systemic review inFoods.
Fiber’s ability to make you feel full can help you stick to a diet. In a 2019 study published inThe Journal of Nutrition, researchers found that dietary fiber intake, independently of macronutrient (fat, protein and carbohydrate) and calorie intake, promoted weight loss and dietary adherence in adults with excessive weight or obesity when consuming a calorie-restricted diet.
This subset of The POUNDS Lost (Preventing Overweight Using Novel Dietary Strategies) collected dietary recalls from 345 participants who were prescribed four different types of calorie-restricted diets (low-fat/ high protein, low-fat/average protein, high-fat/average protein and high-fat/high protein). They were told to eat a minimum of 20 grams of fiber daily. Participants met with a dietitian every 8 weeks and were instructed to exercise for 90 minutes weekly. Researchers found that from baseline to 6 months, an increase in dietary fiber (about 3.7 to 8.3 grams daily) was strongly associated with dietary adherence and weight loss.
There were some limitations, though; adherence was based on self-reported dietary recalls, which can skew data, and the population wasn’t very diverse.
Improving Your Gut Microbiome
Studies have shown that a certain type of dietary fiber, referred to as prebiotics, increases good bacteria likeBifidobacteriaand lactic acid bacteria in the gut, according to a 2017 review published in theJournal of Translational Medicine.
An increase in good bacteria contributes to gut diversity (different types of microorganisms like bacteria, fungi, viruses). A diverse and healthy microbiome may assist in weight loss and reduce the risk of obesity. In a 2018 systematic review and meta-analysis inGenes, researchers evaluated the use of probiotics, prebiotics and synbiotics (a combination of probiotics and prebiotics) on weight loss. They found that compared to placebo, probiotics led to significant reductions in body mass index (BMI), body weight and fat mass, and prebiotics led to a significant decrease in body weight in some of the studies.
Body mass index(BMI) is a measure that’s often used in healthcare to determine a person’s body weight category such as overweight or obese, and therefore, chronic disease risk. However, it has limitations and does not account for individual factors that influence one’s health status, such as body composition, ethnicity, race, sex and age. This is why it shouldn’t be used as a comprehensive measure of someone’s health andcan be a source of body size stigma and bias.
Carbohydrates are themacronutrient that impacts blood sugar the most. When you eat food that contains carbohydrates, the body breaks them down into sugar or glucose. Next, insulin (a hormone) is secreted to bring the sugar to your cells to use for energy. Eating more fiber slows down how quickly glucose is metabolized, resulting in a slower output of insulin. Slow and steady after-meal blood sugar and insulin responses are linked to increased satiety.
Suddenly or drastically increasing your fiber intake, especially without drinking enough water, can result in gas, bloating and constipation. When your stomach is bloated, or you do not have regular bowel movements, you might feel like you’ve gained weight. Being backed up with stool can cause temporary shifts in the scale. But how you gain sustained weight is to consume more calories than your body needs.
Simply taking a fiber supplement will not address other behavioral factors contributing to weight, including stress, sleep, exercise and eating behaviors. Fiber supplements do not contain other nutrients, like protein and fat, that can impact weight. Therefore, a food-first approach to weight loss is usually recommended because of the variety of nutrients in foods. In addition, if they contribute to weight loss, fiber supplements may only yield modest results in certain people.
As mentioned above, the Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommend, on average, 25 to 28 grams of fiber daily for adult females and 31 to 34 grams for adult males.
If you don’t consume fiber-rich foods regularly, you’ll want to increase your intake slowly and make sure you drink adequate amounts of water simultaneously. Doing so will help reduce gas and bloating and prevent constipation, nausea and dehydration. Fiber acts like a sponge; it needs water to plump up and move through the digestive tract smoothly.
The Bottom Line
7 Ways to Add 5 Grams of Fiber to Your Meals
Frequently Asked Questions
Fiber is great for weight loss and overall health. Fiber-rich foods, like fruits and vegetables, help you to feel full, reducing your overall caloric intake. A calorie deficit is important for weight loss.
If you are making a major shift in your diet (for example, from a low-carbohydrate diet to a higher-fiber carbohydrate diet), you may retain some water, but this is usually temporary. This usually occurs when you eat more carbohydrates than you need, and they are stored as glycogen.
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