How to Add Fibre to Your Diet: 10 Easy Swaps
TL;DR: How to add fibre to your diet? Make small swaps: wholegrain instead of white, skins on, legumes in, a handful of nuts or seeds. Add one change at a time over a few weeks and drink more water as you go. A fibre powder can fill the gap on busy days, but food comes first.
You do not need a new diet.
You need ten small swaps.
10 easy fibre swaps
- White bread to wholegrain
- Cornflakes to oats or a high-fibre cereal
- Peel off to skins on (potatoes, apples, pears)
- Half the mince to lentils in bolognese
- Chips to a handful of nuts
- White rice to brown rice or barley
- Juice to whole fruit
- Add chia or linseed to yoghurt
- Add a tin of beans to soups and stews
- Add an extra vegetable to dinner
Your move: pick two swaps this week, two more next week.
Go slow
Adding a lot of fibre in one go is the most common mistake. Build up over a few weeks and drink more water as you go.
How much are you aiming for?
Adults need 25 to 30 g a day. See how much fibre per day.
On busy days
A scoop of fibre in water is a simple top-up. Gut Health Powder is a slippery elm bark powder blend with psyllium, yucca root, organic inulin and rice bran: 4.1 g of fibre per 8 g serve. Dietary fibre contributes to regular laxation. It contains yucca root, an ingredient rarely seen in Australian fibre blends.
Frequently asked questions
What is the easiest high-fibre food?
Oats. A bowl at breakfast is an easy 4 g.
Do vegetables have much fibre?
Some, and more with the skin on. Legumes have more.
Soluble or insoluble?
Both. See soluble vs insoluble fibre.
References
National Health and Medical Research Council (2006, updated). Nutrient Reference Values for Australia and New Zealand: Dietary Fibre.
Propel Health Australia. Gut Health Powder 240 g label.
About the author
Grant Jenkins is co-founder of Propel Health Australia, an Australian, family-owned company based in Brisbane, Queensland, and an ESSA Accredited Exercise Physiologist. Every Propel Health figure quoted here is the figure on the pack.
Disclaimer
This article is general information, not medical advice. Gut Health Powder is a food, taken as part of a balanced diet. Fibre can affect how some medicines are taken up, so leave about two hours between them and ask your pharmacist. Speak to your healthcare provider before starting anything new, especially if you are pregnant, breastfeeding or under medical supervision.
