In my Nutrition Certification course I studied a lot about how important fiber is in our diets so I wondered if the average person knows how much fiber you should be eating in a day for good gut health. Fiber is particularly important if you want to improve your gut health and feed your gut microbiome… which is where 70% of your immune system is. So it’s worth taking care of. Fiber is also the prebiotic for the probiotics that your gut needs. You need both 🙂

Optimal amount of fiber for building gut health

I’m going to share a range of numbers. One being the optimal amount for building your gut health, and what your fiber minimum should be each day. These numbers can guide you for how much fiber you should be eating in a day for good gut health. This data is compiled from various sources including Healthline.com, KidsHealth.org, various studies from the National Institute of Health, University of California San Francisco, The American Heart Association.

Age	Female optimal	Female minimum	Male optimal	Male minimum
51+ years old	28	22	28-35	28
20-50 years old	28	30	38	28
14-19 years old	26	28	38	28
9-13 years old	26	26	31	31
4-8 years old	25	25	25	25
1-3 years old	19	19	19	19

Warning! Start slow and stay hydrated

The average American eats about 10-15 grams of fiber per day (and you wonder why we have so many health problems?!). If you want to increase your fiber, you should start slow or you will have issues in the bathroom at first. Stay hydrated (or you’ll be constipated) and start introducing new fibers to your diet slowly so your gut has time to adjust and enjoy it. Of course you should follow your doctors orders on fiber intake if you have any preexisting conditions. Amounts of fiber intake needed can actually increase for those with some heart conditions so make sure to ask your doctor.

Benefits of eating enough fiber

Some of the benefits of eating a diet with adequate fiber include (but definitely are not limited to)…

• Reduced risk of colorectal cancer
• Better digestion and gut health, more regular bowel movements
• Reduced risk of developing several chronic diseases including: type 2 diabetes, diverticular disease, stroke.
• Lower rates of cardiovascular disease
• Slower glucose absorption in the blood stream after meals (less blood sugar spikes)
• Better gut microbiota (which means a better immune system, better mood)
• I’ll add in a personal win here and say that when I started increasing my fiber intake, I started to naturally loose a little bit of weight. It’s not the whole puzzle but it’s one piece of it.

Here is an example of a high fiber diet for one day

Recently I tracked how much fiber I get in a day because I wanted to see how well I’m doing for myself. I was pleasantly surprised that I am not lacking at all in my fiber intake. Here is how much fiber I ate in a day for good gut health. I don’t always eat this much but it helped me understand that I probably rarely sink below the minimum amount suggested per day.

Breakfast – 10 grams

• Half a Honeycrisp apple – 2 grams
• 1 tablespoon of chia seeds (soaked in water for 10 minutes) – 5 grams
• Almond butter – 3 grams

Lunch – 15 grams

• Beet and cabbage sauerkraut – 2 grams
• Dried dragon fruit – 3 grams
• Soup with Yuka, Potato, Carrots, Celery, and Chicken – 2 grams
• 1 can of artichoke hearts – 8 grams

Dinner – 18 grams

• 1 can of Artichoke hearts – 8 grams
• Cashews – 2 grams
• Walnuts – 3 grams
• Dried dragon fruit – 3 grams
• Raisins – 2 grams
• 1 Cup of Blackberries – 5 grams
• Cottage cheese – 0 grams
• 2 eggs – 0 grams
• Norwegian seed cracker from Trader Joe’s – 3 grams

Grand Total: 43 grams of fiber

Examples of some high fiber foods

• Avocado
• Artichokes
• Lentils, beans or legumes
• Broccoli
• Raspberries, blackberries, blueberries
• Chia seeds
• Nuts and other seeds
• Brussels sprouts

For more tips on getting great nutrients into your daily life, check out my article Top 3 foods I recommend eating daily as a nutritionist.

Happy fiber eating, my friends!