How much fibre should I be eating?

February 8, 2010 4:36 AM

Dietary fibre: how much and how much water to go with it?

1] How much soluble fibre should I take in every day compared to insoluble fibre? What percentage of my RDA should each be?
2] Is there a hard and fast rule as to how much water to take in when taking in a certain amount of fibre? For example, if I take in 20g of fibre over the course of a day, how much water should I drink to go with it?

posted by Solomon to Food & Drink (4 answers total)

For most people this is not really something to worry about. If you have no relevant medical conditions and are digesting properly, you're probably getting the right amount. Dietary fiber is nice and all (it keeps you feeling full for less calories), but taking extra supplements is hardly as important as getting the right amount of different macronutrients. Sorry if this is unhelpful but I believe the answer depends on why and how you are taking the extra fiber.
posted by Orchestra at 6:04 AM on February 8, 2010

Response by poster: Thanks, but I'm actually looking for specific recommendations.
posted by Solomon at 7:05 AM on February 8, 2010

The American Heart Association says about 25 grams of fiber per day on a 2000 calorie diet. This article from the Harvard School of Public Health suggests 20+ grams for women and 30+ grams for men, so perhaps the AHA is splitting the difference. This squares with what my doctor's told me in the past. You'll need more if you're on medications that interfere with digestion or you consume more calories, but you'll want to be careful with how much over the recommended dose you go because that can lead to..unpleasant digestive outcomes. I've not heard fiber expressed as a percentage of RDA rather than absolute amounts.

I can't speak to exactly how much water you need to take with the fiber other than that, in my personal experience, if you're eating a high fiber diet you need to be drinking significantly more fluid than on a low-fiber diet.
posted by eleanna at 7:35 AM on February 8, 2010

Best answer: I would be impressed if you could keep track of your insoluble vs. soluble fiber throughout the course of a day. My nutritionist doesn't make the distinction between the two, and recommends 40g of fiber for me a day (veggies, flax seed...) with a minimum of 2.5 litres of water.
posted by gillianr at 8:31 AM on February 8, 2010