Fiber! Why Are You So Illusive?

amairs

jaredlrice wrote: »

Thank you all. I'm definitely going to try the Kellog's All Bran Buds and give Metamucil a chance.

There is a 'pink lemonade' version of Metamucil now, and it is actually delicious. Mix it up in a super cold cup of water, chug, and you're set!

AigreDoux

I have a spoonful of Benefiber in my coffee every morning. Dissolves, and is flavorless. Sometimes I'll have a big glass of water with another spoonful before bed if I am low that day.

Breakstone cottage cheese with added fiber is good for protein+fiber.

lithezebra

Black beans, red beans, and black soy beans are fiber bombs, with around 6 grams in a half cup serving. Avocados are loaded too, and so is coconut flour.

phillyhockeyfan

My mom has issues getting in enough fiber. She swears by the fiber one bars, says all the verities taste good. I alternate between flax seed and chia seeds in my Greek yougrt.
Glancing though all the replies I didn't see anyone mention English muffins. Since you're not a fan of oatmeal maybe try an English muffin with breakfast. I usually make an egg and sausage sandwich with them. The light multigrain variety is 100 calories, 8g fiber and 5g protein per muffin.

geneticsteacher

kissesdahling wrote: »

I have experience in both having high cholesterol and lowering cholesterol and also experimentation in fiber. (It's a semi-long story.)

The short of it is: saturated fats are the main dietary cause of high cholesterol. Some people say sugar plays a factor, but when I had it at age 7, it's because I was going through a growth spurt and eating whole packages of pepperoni and summer sausage at a time. I was skinny, so it took awhile for my parents to catch on I was eating this poorly. They had thought I inherited my dad's high cholesterol (his is hereditary and very hard to control without meds). A year later after cutting out crazy amounts of animal-based sat fat, I was at normal cholesterol levels.

Which brings me to this point: it can take a few months to lower your cholesterol by diet alone. Try adding exercise if you're not already. For my dad, tons of exercise (he plays singles tennis ALL THE TIME) and getting his weight down to the lowest echelons of healthy BMI for his height has been what has allowed him to cut out his cholesterol meds. So, it is harder if your issue is hereditary.

Dietary changes do work though. Twenty years after my high cholesterol problem, my bad cholesterol and triglycerides are extremely low and my good cholesterol is at an ideal level.

As for the fiber, listen to the people that have mentioned beans and lentils. I personally HATE HATE HATE the texture/mouth feel of beans, but I do eat them to get the fiber because they're so convenient and commonplace. If, like me, you don't like beans in general, go for chickpeas/garbanzos and lentils. Green peas are also an okay source that a lot of people don't really think of as being a good source of fiber.

The Mayo Clinic has a convenient list of high fiber foods on their website that I have referred to in the past. I *have* to get fiber from foods, because I was told by my doctor that due to my short colon and abdominal surgeries as well as medications I take, it could *potentially* be dangerous to take fiber supplements. This was after I had been drinking liquid fiber supplements for a long time, so I was thoroughly freaked out and changed my whole diet to be more fiber rich. I still fail getting to my goal often, but I usually get enough for me and my special colon.

The suggestion to avoid saturated fats may be changing in the future.

annals.org/article.aspx?articleid=1846638

ejbronte

I'm also trying to avoid taking statins for high cholesterol, and promised my doctor that every day, I would have oatmeal, fish oil and flaxseed.

Well, so, I can deal with oatmeal, but don't like the texture, so I grind the oatmeal into flour, and turn the stuff into things like tortillas, pancakes, wraps; and lately, I've been successfully baking it as whole oat-flour muffins and loaves. At this point, being lazy, I skip the grinding part and buy Bob's Red Mill Oat Flour. Using olive oil instead of butter, honey instead of sugar and about a cup of water, really helps the texture, because oat flour *loves* to drink up liquid and can turn leaden on you unless you feed it.

dopeysmelly

Lots of fruit and vegetables, with a good portion of that raw (you get more of the other goodies in it that way), increase the proportion of whole grain over refined grains, and add in beans or lentils (canned is just fine). Probably the best thing to do is to read labels of prepared food that you buy.

You'll have to accept that if you don't want to choke down the fiber supplements, then you'll have to change how and what you eat somewhat, but that's really the whole point of lowering cholesterol. Oh and I'm not sure they've ever proven that it's the fiber that lowers cholesterol per se, or eating proportionately more fruits, veggies, grains and beans/lentils. I could be wrong.

And I second the post about lowering saturated fat. Lowered my bad cholesterol from 202 to 88 by doing the above and cutting out as much saturated fat as I could.

laur357

I second the raspberries. Stir some into your oatmeal with a little peanut butter. An apple with skin also has a good amount of fiber per serving.
English Muffin Pizza - use the muffins with 8g, add some pizza toppings.
Fiber one wraps are about 7g/80 calories. Maybe a breakfast burrito or quesadilla with chili spiced sweet potatoes or black beans plus whatever else you want in there?

Also, Benefiber unflavored powder can be added to lots of things, it doesn't have to be drink. Maybe add some to spaghetti sauce, soup, dip . . .

Enjcg5

Not sure if this was already mentioned but anytime you increase fiber, make sure you increase WATER! Otherwise, you will be backed up like you wouldn't believe. I learned this the hard way and I hated life for weeks!

candycvky

There are good fiber supplements that are not powders.

zyxst

Enjcg5 wrote: »

Not sure if this was already mentioned but anytime you increase fiber, make sure you increase WATER! Otherwise, you will be backed up like you wouldn't believe. I learned this the hard way and I hated life for weeks!

Don't forget about bumping up fat, too.

cuttincurt

Lentils are an awesome source. I usually do a 1400-2000 calorie workout 24-25 days a month and on those days I eat whole grain pasta (barilla) and mix in 1 serving of lentils with it. I hit or go over my daily amount (38) every time. The only days I don't hit it are on the days I do not work out and don't need a 1200 cal breakfast.
1/4 cup true organic lentils = 15g fiber. The Kroger/ralphs generic = 11g fiber. The difference is true organic = 180cal vs. 80cal for the Kroger brand.

Amazon_Who

I actually enjoy Fiber One cereal on fruit flavored yogurt.