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?

Not sure how you think I had 2 breakfasts. Some bran flakes with a small amount of yoghurt is one breakfast. I hate milk so always have yoghurt.

How is a veggie shepherds pie a strange dish? Also it had lentils and black beans in it.

According to myfitnesspal the shepherds pie had almost 30g.

Maybe myfitness pal is wrong but I am not eating my meals to get a lot of fibre. I am eating foods I like. I like pulses, fruit, veg, seeds, nuts etc. I don't really like cakes, biscuits, chocolate etc and I don't eat ultra processed foods

AI is not likely to be accurate though @Anonnewbie you need to look on the actual food packet.

How did you know what your qualities of sweetcorn, parsnip etc was to measure it though?

the reason I say is it was odd is that it’s loads of sweet veg (sweetcorn carrots parsnips peas) meaty, earthy mushrooms, bitter Brussels and more sweet veg on top. It’s like a flavour texture explosion but not in a Michelin restaurant way

Uggggh I got put on these after my bum got torn up birthing my son. For the love of God introduce them slowly…

I am a big fan of milled flax and find it agrees with me much more than psyllium. There are some nice recipes on the Linwoods website.

Both me and DH like the veggie shepherds pie I make. We don't find the flavours or texture odd at all but each to their own. A shepherds pie with meat we would find extremely boring

I feel that I do eat a lot of fibre on the days I actually eat properly, only those days are few and far between of late

Usual days eating is homemade greek yoghurt - about 3/4 heaped tablespoons, with as many frozen berries I fancy and a measured portion of Bio and Me

lunch - dark rye bread, salad of leaves - usually rocket, tomatoes, beetroot (grated not in vinegar ) , cottage cheese and a tin of mackerel or sardines,

Dinner - a typical will be a chicken/chickpea/spinach curry - brown rice. or a bolognese made half mince half lentils with all the usual added veg, wholemeal spaghetti and a side salad or broccoli

That is around 35 to 40gr

Other fibre boosts I use is oat bran in yoghurt , use a lot of beans - cannelloni, broad, butter, kidney , black beans etc - throw a tin into any casserole /stew dish going and usually blend a can of butter, cannelloni into soup

Swapping white bread to at least wholemeal helps. I like the German dark rye and use it as a base to an open sandwich , and brown rice and wholewheat pasta - easy swaps

I dont peel carrots, parsnips or potatoes - good scrub

Snack on nuts and dried fruit and I love figs and prunes

For me, as I also cook for DH who doesnt like non meat meals, its making the healthy swaps that he does like - like a Warburton protein thin instead of a bap for a burger - and they are turkey now not beef , hiding the beans in food. - rather like hiding veg for children lol. He certainly won't eat Quinoa or couscous , yet will eat pearl barley , and since coming back from Prague has decided he like groats . Now I am only cooking for two , Ive my Quick Wins cook book out , see what I can run by him :)

Weird stealth boast

Not everyone cares.
A few people can't tolerate "fibre".
🙄

I believe it. I checked my fibre intake and it was no where near enough. I don't like brown bread, not really into wholemeal pasta or rice either but I have switched to them now and added chia seeds and berries to up my intake.

I’m way more full if I concentrate on fibre than protein

I have become fibre evangelical in the last year (everyone in my life is bored of me lecturing them!) and I 100% believe this. Most people get nowhere near most days. It’s a big reason for so many bowel and digestive problems rising in younger people (along with a focus on protein).

The number of people I know who won't eat beans or lentils or wholemeal bread - I can believe it.

Doesn't surprise me at all.

In the deprived area where most of my family lives and where i grew up, I'd say it's pretty common to eat fewer than 5 fruit and vegetables a week and get fewer than a few hundred steps a day.

I work in health, I fully understand the statistics around health inequalities, diets, lifestyle, healthy life expectancy etc but I still find the contrast between poorer and richer areas absolutely startling.
Fiber intake being just one manifestation of that difference.

I track everything I eat. In the last 2 weeks I haven’t hit my fibre goal once!

Haven’t read the whole thread yet but quite recently there were headlines about bowel cancer risk could be reduced with e.g. an extra glass of milk, the calcium binding to bile acid & fatty acids to protect the gut. I’ve been having half a 450 g pot of live yogurt per day and have certainly noticed less trouble down below. In addition to 2-3 a large bowls of AllBran per week, always wholemeal bread never white, and avoiding the confectionery aisle in the supermarket which is invariably white flour.

It was easier in the olden days when you could find the odd shop bought cake made with wholemeal. Nowadays if you want say a wholemeal pizza base you either make it yourself or trek to the nearest wholefood deli if there even is one nearby. I do like mixed beans but have to be a bit careful as they are only sold in big size tins and the effects can be unpredictable. Another thing thats disappeared, is smaller size 200 g tins of butter beans. If I open a tin I have to eat the lot! Sweetcorn is however available in single portions.

I dont think its particularly hard to get enough fibre....if you're mainly eating a wholefood diet, and heavily invested in getting your fruit and veggies in!
Alot of people do still eat alot of processed stuff though and pay lip service to fruit and veg so I can see why the statistics are the way they are.

Last time I added up I was getting an average of 40g a day, probably because I usually eat 10-12 a day. Diet is mostly wholefood vegan.
(a good test if you're getting enough fibre is how worried you are about your toilet coping with 'that' flush!!LOL😆).

Do you have a freezer? You can freeze beans

It's odd to me to hear of people saying they don't like pulses and would find them boring, strange or whatever else they say to justify not eating them. (Obviously I'm not talking about those who've been medically advised to avoid them and/or who know from experience they can't tolerate them.) It probably helps to get used to eating them in childhood, in tasty dishes that are not a penance to eat. I wonder if some people have just failed to grasp that they are probably already occasionally eating pulses. Could they be visualising a plate of plain boiled lentils or beans? I'm clutching at straws here because the pulse-based dishes I eat and cook are lovely, and very far from bland and dull. As with everything else, it's all about how you cook things to make them appetising.

I grew up on a Scottish diet which included fairly often having soup containing pulses, e.g. lentil soup made with a hambone, pea soup (also often ham-flavoured), or Scotch broth made with lentils and/or split peas, barley and sometimes butter beans. I still love soup of all kinds, including those made with pulses. Turkish lentil soup is glorious. You need flavour in soup. Spices, herbs, good stock, some salt (for my taste).

Most British people like baked beans, don't they? Standard element on a breakfast fry up - sausage, beans and chips - beans on toast - etc etc.

Hummus was virtually unknown in the UK when I was growing up but is now found in virtually every supermarket and convenience store. Bean salads are very popular as far as I can see too, and deservedly so. Falafels are maybe not as common but not exotic these days, and pretty easy to find. Chilli (with or without meat) usually has beans in it. Dhal is a standard feature of any Indian meal. Mushy peas are terrific with fish and chips and widely found on menus for that very purpose.

Anybody who avoids all of the above must be eating a pretty restricted diet.

We do have a freezer, which is usually jammed full and iced up so the drawers will hardly open ... but yes, ta, we are thinking of getting a taller self defrosting one. Then I just have to remember to get them out in time - long ago, I used to store them frozen in tupperware containers, I'd have a few of them stowed away. We also used to have a chest freezer which held loads of stuff much of it out of date, down at the bottom. OH doesn’t like beans in sauce in case anyone is wondering. I love a tomato sauce which is no doubt full of unnecessary sugar. I’ve given up worrying about sugar if the food is wholegrain or contains fibre, so long as it's real sugar not aspartame.

I agree with the stats. I have focused more on fibre then protein in my diet and I add up the grams of fibre and then only achieve around 23-25g a day. Am slowly building up to 30g a day. I don’t really eat breakfast but I do have overnight oats, with chia seeds, frozen raspberries, grated apple, flaxseeds, a mix of nuts, Greek yogurt and milk that’s all about 12-15g in one meal (I measure so know) then another meal might be chilli con carne with a mixture of sweet and white potato wedges with a can of black beans. I also have some fruit and then around 100g of popcorn which has 5g of dietary fibre (I make it on the stove so it’s so cheap).

Adding beans or lentils to most meals will add fibre and they’re so cheap. Even a meal of jacket potato and half a can of baked beans (yes I know the sugar and salt content) has a lot of fibre.

Fibre helps lower blood glucose levels but there is no fruits and vegetables producers pushing fibre out there like the Meat and Dairy lot do for protein. Fibre also helps keeps me fuller for longer.

Like hell I will! I’ll be really unwell!!

The schar gluten free frozen white rolls have 4g of fibre added to them and are delicious. Put some homous in them and salad and you have some more fibre from the chickpea houmous. Popcorn is also generally gluten free and has fibre but better off popping your own (also has to be gf popping corn that hasn’t been cross contaminated with other grains). Popcorn has replaced my crisp addiction but is low in calories and has lots of insoluble dietary fibre.

Don't get those rolls where I am. I sometimes buy fresh gf bread which tends to be much better for fibre (like I bought carrot oat bread rolls today) but they're too expensive to buy very often.
Popcorn is a good option, boring but good

There’s a great podcast on Zoe this week about pooing if you’re interested in this sort of thing. When you feel the urge to go, you need to go!

My apples don't come in a packet they come in a brown bag from the green grocers.....