Why YSK: fiber is important for optimal human health. It helps us avoid diabetes, heart disease, colon cancer, obesity, and other diseases. This is particularly important in developed countries such as mine (USA) that are suffering greatly from these diseases.

The recommended daily fiber intake is 25g for women and 38g for men in the USA, and 95% of us don’t meet this amount. This suggests an urgent need for us to increase our daily fiber intake, which can be achieved by swapping out ultra-processed foods and animal foods that are void of fiber with whole plant foods such as fruits, vegetables, legumes, whole grains, nuts, and seeds.

  • ipkpjersi@lemmy.ml
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    3 months ago

    I think I’ve started reaching this amount recently since I’ve changed my diet and started eating more oatmeal and fruits/vegetables. With that said, fiber can actually cause problems for some people, it can cause bloating/pain for some people even with adequate water intake to match the fiber.

    • Pirky@lemmy.world
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      3 months ago

      If you suddenly add the recommended dosage to your diet, you will absolutely have problems like that at first.
      It’s ideal to slowly increase your fiber intake so your body has time to adjust to it. That way those problems are minimized until it’s a regular part of your diet.

      • ipkpjersi@lemmy.ml
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        3 months ago

        To be fair, I added them to my diet without ramping up without issues, and there are people who can ramp them up and their body never adjusts to it/handles it properly. It all depends on the person, ultimately.

      • ipkpjersi@lemmy.ml
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        3 months ago

        True, but some people’s bodies don’t need time to adjust, and some people’s bodies are unable to adjust, it just depends on the person.

        • Swedneck@discuss.tchncs.de
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          3 months ago

          if your body can’t handle fibre, that’s not fibre being bad, that’s it telling you that you need to start getting in contact with medical professionals to make sure you stay healthy.

          • ipkpjersi@lemmy.ml
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            3 months ago

            Not necessarily true, some people just don’t tolerate fiber well. It doesn’t mean that they absolutely definitely have something medically wrong, for some people it just causes bloating no matter what. Still, it doesn’t hurt to check with a doctor when unsure.