How much fibre do you actually need in your diet? Here’s what one expert says

Registered dietitian Nishta Saxena talks about the two types of fibre needed by the human body and how much of each type you should be consuming every day.

Increasing fibre in your diet has become a hot topic on social media, but it’s more than just a trend, according to a registered dietitian who says most people aren’t getting anywhere close to the recommended amount.

“We do have Canadian general dietary fibre guidelines, and so they actually differ by gender and by age,” Nishta Saxena told CTV Your Morning on Thursday.

“But the interesting thing is, most of the people I’ve seen over many, many years are not getting nearly enough.”

Saxena said that men aged 19 to 50 should aim for around 38 grams of fibre per day, while men older than 50 should eat 30 grams per day. For women between 19 to 50, the recommended amount of daily fibre is around 25 grams per day, and 21 grams for women over 50.

But for many people, Saxena said, those recommendations are hard to visualize, which is why it’s important for them to take a comprehensive look at their diet and figure out exactly how much they’re getting on a daily basis.

“It’s going to be found in whole grains, things like breads,” she said. “It could be in more hearty pastas, in whole grains like oats, it could be in the fruits and vegetables you’re eating.”

“It could be in seeds that you’re adding, things like flax seeds and chia seeds, and it could be, actually, from high-fibre processed foods that you might be consuming, so you have to look at all of those to understand how much you’re getting every day,” she added.

Soluble and insoluble fibre

When it comes to dietary fibre, there are two types, Saxena explained: soluble and insoluble.

“So, we have soluble fibre, which mixes with water, and that’s going to create a gel-like substance. These are things that when they are in the large bowel, they can actually help with removing debris and soaking up some of the metabolites and toxins there,” she said.

Sources include oats, lentils, beans and fruits.

“And then insoluble fibre is kind of the opposite, that’s more of like a scrub brush, and that’s going to be the indigestible parts of fibre,” said Saxena.

“We have foods like whole nuts, celery, those stocky vegetables and leafy greens. This is really going to support the cleaning up of the gut lining and bulking the fecal matter in the large bowel so it can leave the body … we need both of those.”

Saxena said the best way to increase fibre intake is by eating more whole foods.

“When you’re eating a whole food that’s high in fibre, it’s doing many different things,” she said. “You’re getting nutrients, you’re getting protein, fat and carbs, but it’s really doing magical things metabolically.”