AIBU to doubt only 4 per cent of adults get enough fibre?

[Anonnewbie]

To think that the recommended 30g of fibre per day isn't that hard to achieve for most people and be confused by the stats I keep seeing recently that 96% of UK adults get less than this?

Is it 96% don't meet it EVERY day, because that seems reasonable. Or don't average over 30g, which I think is pretty bad. But I'm realising as I type I should Google that question

My real question is how much fibre did you eat today? I just put it into chat gpt by typing out my food for today and despite being horrified by today's diet (1 piece of fruit, a few veg, way too much pastry and cheese, and quite a lot of Easter egg...saved by half a tin of beans), it estimated 37g. I asked it for a breakdown of that and the calculations seemed correct within reason as I'm not going to start weighing etc.

I would have guessed I was above average due to eating plenty of veg and home cooked meals, but cant believe I would be in the top 4% of fibre eaters in the country.... What do you think?

My father is vehement in his dislike of beans and pulses. yet until i told him he had not really understood that garden peas and hummus counted. And he's perfectly well-educated- former Head Teacher with post grad degrees.

I found that quite interesting. He also managed to reverse his T2 diabetes through dietary changes - it was all steak, pate and potatos until my mother was allowed to take over his diet (former diabetes nurse) after he was diagnosed about 6 years or so ago.

(Objectively I have no real reason to add this post, other than that I'm chatting!)

@Neurodiversitydoctor which apples have 6g of fibre in?!

Yes, a lot of peanut butter!

I think it's really hard to get 30g unless you are only eating vegetables.

I just played around with MFP and created a realistic "good" day for me, within my calorie allowance for weight loss.

Breakfast was 51g of porridge with a TSP of chia, flax and pumpkin seeds, 100g of raspberries, 4g of fibre supplement and 2 fibre capsules.

Lunch was 2 rice cakes with homemade hummus, tomato and rocket.

Dinner homemade chilli made with carrot, onion, celery, kidney beans, black beans, beef and pork mince, courgette and some lentils with basmati rice

Snack was a banana and a Clementine.

Comes to 26g of fibre and 1400 calories.

I won't eat like that every day though.

Today will be

2 poached egg on seeded sourdough with avocado and prosciutto ham

Leftover chicken and mayo and lettuce in a wrap

Homemade leftover lamb curry (with peppers and onions) and basmati rice

A herbal tea with honey before bed

Total calories a bit over 1700 and fibre a whole 6g

This is exactly what happened on the other thread. Hugely inflated claims of fibre

My cup of tea has 11g of fibre in it dont you know!!!

According to my fitness pal I got 8g of fibre yesterday - I ate 5 portions of fruit and veg including raspberries. I find I have to actively eat oats, chia seeds, pulses etc every single meal to get a reasonable amount of fibre, houmous and rye crackers, an apple etc that other people seem to do don’t touch the sides for fibre when I log my eating.

you only have to look at what's in some people's shopping trolleys to work out they don't hit their daily fibre intake

It's been said already but I can easily imagine how, and not just from people who have a 'crap'/average diet full of junk and unprocessed foods. For years and years I ate a pretty healthy diet, definitely getting my 5 a day etc but wouldn't have got anywhere near the 30g fibre. A typical days eating would have been:

-Breakfast - none/skipped (0 fibre)
-Lunch - homemade veggie soup often made with a couple of kinds of root or green veg (perhaps 5g fibre depending on the veg) - no bread as I was minimizing carbs
-Dinner - veggie spaghetti bol made with quorn mince, white pasta, side salad with lettuce cucumber, tomatos etc (perhaps 10g)
-pudding/snack - Greek yoghurt with some soft or tropical fruit as those are my favourites (2-3g).

Lucky if I got to 20 for the day overall.

Even though today I prioritise fibre more knowing how important it is, and have made some small easy tweaks like eating oats at breakfast, berries as my fruit choice rather than soft fruits, choosing wholemeal carbs and adding beans or pulses or lentils to soups and stews to easily hit 30g, it doesn't take much to go back down to more like the 15g range if something happens to disrupt routine - e.g. if I skip breakfast or eat lunch out - it's hard to find wholemeal carb options on some cafe/casual dining menus, it's often white or sourdough bread, beans and lentils also not terribly popular, if DH cooks he doesn't love legumes and pulses so won't naturally think to add those to our meals and he also isn't a big fan of brown rice and wholemeal pasta so if he's done the shopping he'll often pick up the less fibre-filled versions. Just saying I still have to make a bit of a conscious effort to consistently eat the recommended fibre day in day out and not just on the perfect day. Add that to trying to eat enough protein as well and it does take planning and thought especially on busy days when I'm out of the house a lot and convenience foods are very appealing!

To be honest I was a bit surprised and taken aback at the strength of anti bean/pulse feeling on the thread!

Lol, you dont have to be anti beans/pulses to not want to eat them daily!

Which is what I said upthread, MNs posters struggle to calculate their fibre! It’s a bit like the ones who do 30k steps before they leave the house pottering about.

Is it hard to achieve? Not really but you clearly haven’t read many people’s food diaries. Most adults don’t even eat their 5 a day which is a major fibre source and most aren’t adding nuts, seeds and whole grains to their meals.

You find it crazy because you’re somewhat interested in nutrition… hence you’ve discovered this stat. Most Brits couldn’t give a monkeys about fibre. They might just have a vague knowledge that sugar is bad and they should eat more fruit and veg. But they often don’t because they’re busy/stressed/neophobic/poor.

I think you're right, however I think genuinely a lot of people dont know that pulses/legumes etc count as veg. So as per people on this thread they fill up on salad and roasted veg, all of which is very low in fibre, virtually nil.

Having said that Im just about to roast up some brussel sprouts, I keep them in the fridge when they're roasted and put them in other dishes. So perhaps people mean roasted greens.

Is it hard to achieve? Not really but you clearly haven’t read many people’s food diaries. Most adults don’t even eat their 5 a day which is a major fibre source and most aren’t adding nuts, seeds and whole grains to their meals.

5 a day won’t equal 30g of fibre

And nuts are not cheap.

Plenty of people count calories, restrict carbs, prioritise protein which all impacts fibre intake.

Being anti beans and pulses is well deserved by me anyway. I took off like a sail after eating them, the gas and wind were embarrassing and uncomfortable. Life is too short to keep trying and get my gut used to them. Nope, and people around me deserve more than my farts all day long!

Consciously the only thing I do for fibre intake is a breakfast of Weetabix, milled chia and flax, and crushed fruits to top it. I might take in more with other meals, but I don't worry or think about it. Regular as clock work and that's enough for me.

I have no idea of the exact amount of fibre I eat a day but pretty sure it's a lot.

Me and DH are vegetarian so eat loads of lentils, chickpeas, different beans, obviously loads of veg. We also eat lots of nuts.

I have bran flakes or porridge for breakfast with chia seeds, kiwi (I eat the skin), raspberries and yoghurt. My snacks are usually nuts and things like dried apricots, dates, raisins.

I do think a lot of people have a really crap diet. Just look at how much ultra processed food supermarkets sell

The 5 a day is not a major fibre source unless you focus on the high fibre types and even then it needs to be added to significantly by seeds/grains, some nuts etc

I say this on every thread, BGBGS

Berries
Greens
Beans
Grains
Seeds

This is what needs the focus

I think keto diets make it hard to get enough fibre. And people being unwilling to poo anywhere other than at home contributes to chronic constipation.

Just calculated and I had 55g approximately yesterday. I’m vegan and eat a lot of veggies, lentils, beans, seeds.

Is this like the person upthread with the apples and the peanut butter?

My insides are happiest when I eat high fat and low carb, particularly low fibre. Anything wholemeal or beans or lentils means an acute ibs attack with crippling wind and camping out in the bathroom, and then a good three days of being careful to stabilise things again.

Not everyone is suited to each piece of generic advice. The point of recommending fibre is to speed up gut transit, which is not a problem for everyone, to slow digestion, and to make you feel full. But insoluble and soluble fibre are different and a clunky metric like overall fibre levels doesn’t help all of us! Insoluble is bran etc, which speeds things up - it’s a gut irritant.

Bowel cancer seems to be increasing in younger people. Fibre is just about starting to get recognition again as it has been all about protein (ridiculously) in the last few years.

I do monitor how much I have as I have to control how much I eat quite carefully. I get enough by having a high fibre granola with raspberries and yogurt for breakfast, usually a salad involving pulses at lunch time and plenty of veg and/ir a baked potato in the evening.

But a lot of people eat cornflakes or white toast for breakfast, a sandwich with white bread for lunch and some white pasta with a jar of sauce, takeaway or ready meal for dinner, with crisps and chocolate in between. They are probably having less than half the requirement, nowhere near enough fruit and veg, and lots of white carb ultra-processed food.

All of this is correct except that just by swapping your white bread and white pasta to wholemeal, it doesnt significantly increase your fibre intake, it will double each slice of bread at least, but bread is still quite a low fibre food.

Im fully plant based so it’s hard to imagine not reaching at least 30g a day

True, but I didn't mention bread at all in my diet or intimate that swapping brown for white will suffice on its own.

Me and DH are vegetarian and we love lentils, chickpeas, different beans. A lot of our evening meals contain one or more of those ingredients.