Foods with fiber have benefits for your gut health, heart health and weight loss. And high-fiber vegetables are a great place to start getting more of that good stuff in your diet.
From leafy greens and cruciferous veggies to colorful carrots and sweet potatoes , there a lot of delicious, versatile options to choose from. And vegetables that are high in fiber tend to come packed with other helpful nutrients as well, such as vitamin C and folate.
That means that eating high-fiber veggies can also help you reach other health goals, dietitians tell TODAY.com.
How much fiber should we be eating? You should aim to get 14 grams of fiber for every 1,000 calories you eat, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture . That means people who eat 2,000 calories a day should be getting 28 grams of fiber every day. Unfortunately, many people fall pretty far short of that goal.
In the U.S., adults often end up eating just 10 to 15 grams a day, the experts say. So, if you’re feeling backed up, bloated or hungry soon after eating, that could be due to a lack of fiber in your diet.
When you’re ready to add more fiber to your meals, start with a few of these high-fiber vegetables. Why is fiber so important?
In general, you can think of fiber as the "street sweeper of your (gastrointestinal) system," Grace Derocha, registered dietitian and spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, tells TODAY.com.
Fiber helps clear out excess waste from your body, she explains, which prevents constipation and bloating. That action also helps maintais your ability to absorb nutrients from food.
Because we get fiber from plants, filling your plate with vegetables, fruits, whole grains, beans and legumes is “a sure-fire way to up your fiber intake,” Whitney Linsenmeyer, Ph.D., assistant professor at Saint Louis University and spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, tells TODAY.comThere are actually two types of fiber in food. First, there’s soluble fiber, which swells in water, slows down the movement of meals through your intestines. This helps regulate blood sugar and cholesterol levels , […]
14 high-fiber vegetables that have major gut health benefits
