The 22 Best High Fiber Foods For Weight Loss
Lose Weight with these 22 Lower Carb High Fiber Foods
On today’s episode I want to share the 22 best high fiber foods for weight loss.
Even with all the associated health benefits, only a small percentage of people consume the recommended daily amount of fiber.
Benefits of Fiber include:
- improves gut health and digestion
- helps lower the risk of cancer, diabetes, and heart disease
- keeps you regular
- balances blood sugar levels
- reduces the circulation of toxins in the body (and gets rid of estrogen)
- keeps you feeling full and reduces cravings
Yes, fiber is your fat loss ally
Consuming fiber helps with weight loss, because when you’re full, you won’t over eat.
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It also slows the emptying of the food from your stomach, which provides a steady steam of nutrients for your body to use.
Protein, Fat, and Fiber Diet
As you know, we promote a healthy lifestyle with a diet higher in protein, healthy fat, and fiber.
I’ve branded it PFF.
Protein.
Fat.
Fiber.
A diet high in protein, fat, and fiber (PFF) is great for:
- long-term weight loss
- muscle building
- hormonal health
- gut health
- and maintaining a lean and fit body composition, 365 days a year
In previous posts, I’ve shared the best sources of high protein foods, as well as the best sources of healthy fats.
However, I have yet to dedicate an entire post to the best sources of high fiber foods.
But before we get to that, lets cover the basics of fiber.
What is fiber?
Fiber comes in two varieties:
- Soluble fiber:
This is the type of fiber that turns into a gel-like substance in the stomach.
This helps slow the digestion and absorption of sugar, which helps balance blood sugar levels, as well as helping lower cholesterol.
Soluble fiber also helps you feel full, thus decreasing cravings and reducing the risk of over eating.
- Insoluble fiber:
I’m sure you’ve all heard that fiber helps you poop.
Well insoluble fiber is the type that helps you remove waste from your body more efficiently.
If you’re feeling backed up and constipated, insoluble fiber is your friend.
Even though fiber is actually indigestible by humans, it’s essential to gut health and digestion, as the healthy bacteria in your gut eats fiber to grow and flourish.
What is the recommended daily amount of fiber?
This depends on your age and gender.
Since men typically eat more food then women, men require more fiber.
Same goes for younger people versus older people.
Recommended daily amount of fiber for people under 50 years old:
- Men: 38 grams of fiber per day.
- Women:Â 25 grams of fiber per day.
Recommended daily amount of fiber for people over 50 years old:
- Men: 30 grams of fiber per day.
- Women:Â 21 grams of fiber per day.
Best sources of high fiber foods for weight loss:
Before we get to the best sources of high fiber foods, let me be clear, these are the best sources of high fiber foods for weight loss and overall body composition.
This means foods high in fiber but still being lower in carbohydrates.
Many people think they need to substantially increase their carbohydrate consumption in order to eat more fiber.
True, fiber comes from eating carbohydrates, however the right types of carbohydrates can still be high in fiber, without being too high in carbohydrates.
I’m referring to high fiber foods, from whole, plant based, low glycemic complex carbohydrate sources, such as vegetables, fruit, nuts, and seeds.
Even though legumes like navy beans, black beans, and lentils contain the highest fiber amounts, they also include a higher amount of carbohydrates per serving.
Also, some people have a tough time digesting them, so listen to your body.
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If you do eat beans, ensure you fully cook them.
And yes, you can also get fiber from grains like millet, buckwheat, oats, and brown rice, however once again, the carbohydrate content in these foods are much higher, thus putting you at a higher risk for going over your carb intake goals.
The high fiber foods that I’m recommending are higher in fiber and antioxidants to lower free radical formation, without adding extra body fat.
Best 22 High Fiber Foods For Weight Loss
| Food: | Serving: | Fiber: |
| Chia Seeds | 1 oz | 10g |
| Raspberries | 1 cup | 8g |
| Collard Greens (boiled) | 1 cup | 8g |
| Blackberries | 1 cup | 8g |
| Flax Seeds | 1 oz | 7.7g |
| Butternut Squash (cooked) | 1 cup | 7g |
| Parsnips | 1 cup | 7g |
| Acorn Squash (boiled) | 1 cup | 6g |
| Pears | 1 | 6g |
| Broccoli (boiled) | 1 cup | 5.1g |
| Apple | 1 | 4.4g |
| Brussels Sprouts (boiled) | 1 cup | 4g |
| Sweet Potato | 1 cup | 4g |
| Cocoa Powder | 2 tbsp | 3.6g |
| Carrots | 1 cup | 3.6g |
| Blueberries | 1 cup | 3.6g |
| Almonds | 1 oz | 3.5g |
| Pomegranate | 1/2 cup | 3.5g |
| Avocado | 1/4 | 3.2g |
| Banana | 1 | 3.1g |
| Orange | 1 | 3.1g |
| Strawberries | 1 cup | 3.0g |
As you may notice not many leafy greens made the list, but I do consider them to be one of the best fiber sources as they are super low in calories, but are loaded with nutrition and fiber.
One of the best ways to increase your fiber intake from leafy greens is to boil them.
This lowers the volume of food but increases the amount fiber to your plate.
Also consider adding greens to your smoothies.
Remember, juicing fruits and vegetables removes the fiber.
When you blend them into a smoothie, the fiber remains in tact.
Leafy greens include:
- kale
- rainbow chard
- swiss chard
- collard greens
- arugula
- spinach
- romaine
Other squash variations such as butternut, spaghetti, yellow summer squash, and zucchini are also good sources of fiber that are relatively low in carbohydrates.
I like using squash and zucchini as a substitute from traditional refined pasta recipes.
I shared a low carb zucchini pasta recipe a few weeks ago as well as spaghetti squash recipe.
Can you eat too much fiber?
Yes.
Eating too much fiber can move the food through your intestines too quickly.
This means your body will not have enough time to properly absorb the vitamins and minerals from the food.
Also, if you’ve recently added in more fiber to your diet but are now feeling gassy, bloated, and crampy, you may have added too much fiber, too abruptly.
Slowly add in more fiber over time to allow your body to adapt.
Vary the types of fiber:
As you’ve seen, there are a wide variety of foods high in fiber.
Not only does eating a wide variety of these foods provide your body with more nutrients, it also provides you different fiber sources for healthier microflora and gut health.
You can also supplement with fiber to add in a wide variety of different sources of fiber.
Bottom Line:
It’s not just about calories, protein, carbs, and fat.
Don’t forget about hitting your fiber goals too.
Besides all the health benefits of fiber, from a weight loss perspective it can help keep you satieted longer, which can lead to less food cravings, and reduce the risk of over eating.
#Winning.
You can find more high fiber cooking video recipes like our cauliflower mash recipe, on our Team Live Lean group coaching platform.
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Brad Gouthro is the founder of Live Lean TV, a media company focused on helping men and women “Live Lean” 365 days a year. Brad’s programs and content have helped millions of people all over the world learn how to get in shape, and more importantly, sustain it for life.
high fiber foods keeps us healthy and young .