Fiber:calorie ratio and chart – Fitness for Cool People

If you just want a link to the chart, click here.

Dietary fiber. It’s important.

What is dietary fiber? There are many definitions, which isn’t great. The CODEX definition, which seeks to unify labeling amongst many other goals, has this as the following definition: any oligosaccharide of 3 carbons or more, either naturally derived/extracted or synthetically composed, that is enzymatically indigestible by the human GI tract, and confers a physiological benefit to the body in some fashion. This definition includes both soluble and insoluble fiber as, in the case of soluble fiber, it is gut bacteria that are fermenting the fibers and not enzymes secreted the intestine themselves (1).

US dietary recommendations are ~14 g/1000 calories/day. UK recommends ~25 g dietary fiber/day (2). On average, North Americans eat 15 g per day, which is pitiful (4). It is estimated that only 5% of US population hits the daily recommended fiber intake (3). This difference between what Americans actually consume vs. what is recommended for optimal health by the USDA is known as the ‘fiber gap.’

As an aside, the ‘fiber gap’ can tell us a lot about some of the erroneous arguments made by anti-government, anti-science/evidence, anti-intellectuals/pseudo-scientists, health conspiracy theorists, natural healers, gurus, etc. and how illogical and misleading they are. One of the conspiracy theories this population uses is the hypothesis that the USDA, which controls agriculture and what crops are grown etc., also determines nutritional guidelines, which poses a supposed conflict of interest. The USDA, as we all know, is corrupt and filthy, taking lobby money and being influenced by big food agribusiness to make it easier for them to grow their poison crops and refined sugar crops and… corn… that make us sick and fat for greed and profit. Also, they eat live babies. The USDA allows agribusiness to grow poison crops that make us sick, and then pushes nutritional guidelines that tell us to eat the stuff, so we get fat and sick.

As referenced prior, only about 5% of the US hits the USDA recommended daily fiber intake. Only 3-8% of American’s use MyPlate from the USDA (1). So, it doesn’t matter whether the the USDA is entirely corrupt (which they aren’t) with agribusiness and their nutritional guidelines are used to lead people to buy big agribusiness death products because… AMERICANS DON’T FOLLOW THE GUIDELINES!!! Given that USDA guidelines are based on peer-reviewed research and meet the basic standards of evidence, it could be very easily argued that American’s are sick BECAUSE they aren’t following the USDA guidelines. At a minimum, anybody who says that obesity epidemic is caused by the corrupted USDA guidelines and big agribusiness is making a claim that runs contrary to current evidence, either through innocent ignorance, fraudulent misrepresentation, or anything in between.

Total quantity is only part of the story. Dietary fiber isn’t just this one molecule, but a diverse array of molecules that combine and interact in the GI, producing a net positive of metabolic byproducts that induce positive health outcomes (5). Potentially, it is more similar to vitamins and minerals, such that, when the proper levels of specific types of fibers are met, optimal health is achieved (1). Unfortunately, we do not know enough about dietary fiber, gut microbiota, their mechanistic reactions within the GI tract, and how they positively influence health to the point that they can be prescribed the same way we know how much Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Iron, Zinc, etc. that we need.

To that end, saying we need to get say 25 g of dietary fiber per day is the equivalent of saying we need to get 25 g of vitamins and minerals per day. Everyone would ask the question, “Well, which vitamins?” It’s the same with fiber, and the research isn’t in yet by any stretch on which one’s specifically to take in what quantities. Based on what I’ve read from the research, its going to take awhile before we get to that point.

So, what’s the best bet then? We can use a dialectical approach by trying to hit the US recommendations of 14 g/1000 calories per day from as many different food sources as possible. We can also use a dialectical approach to combine the outcome goal of hitting a specific fiber target each day with the process goal of trying each day to increase our fiber intake, regardless of whether we hit our goal. In doing this, we can optimize our fiber health.

There are some conditions where it makes it difficult to hit our fiber intake goals for the day. Economic barriers/living in a “food desert” are also very real problems that make it difficult for someone to get proper fiber intake. Unfortunately, this topic is outside the scope and scale of this post. Some of the dietary and physiological conditions include things like:

1. eating a performance diet that focuses on high protein and getting in more fast-digesting carbs to replenish glycogen
2. being in a caloric deficit
3. and/or being small, and/or predominantly sedentary
4. Celiac’s disease, wheat allergy, IBS, FODMAP-restricted diet
5. Ketogenic diet (for weight management only)

These are situations where it might be difficult to get in all our daily fiber intake during training days. In these cases, it may be beneficial to purchase an insoluble fiber supplement containing methyl-cellulose, or a soluble fiber containing psillium to help meet your daily fiber needs. It also suggests that, in these conditions, we should probably be extra vigilant on consuming as much fiber when we can, however we can. If training is the issue, eat more fiberous foods on the off-days. When the diet is over, add in more fiberous foods to move out of a caloric deficit. If we’re sedentary, increase daily activity to facilitate more carb consumption. If we have have dietary restriction, eat more of the fiberous foods that do fit within the dietary restriction. If we’re on keto for weight management, we should think about dropping off some of those extra fats for more fruits and veggies, or introduce more carbs to move out a caloric deficit into maintenance.

How to use this chart:

The chart has 8 columns on it that you can sort if you view using the shareable link from Google Sheets here and at the top of the page. The columns are as follows:

The food name, with raw and cooked listing for many common non-animal foods associated with fiber
total calories per 100 g of food
total g of fiber per 100 g of food
fiber per 100 g / calories per 100 g (the higher the number the more fiber per calorie there is)
The amount of calories to reach 5 g or 10 g of fiber per food item
The total weight of the food required to reach 5 g or 10 g of dietary fiber

What can we do with this information? By sorting the data via calories for 5 g or 10 g, we find the foods that have the most fiber per calorie, which can be really good if we are trying to hit a caloric target. By sorting the data via grams of food per 5 or 10 g of fiber, we can find foods that are the densest in terms of physical mass to get either 5 or 10 of fiber. Between sorting the chart with those pieces of information, we can make comparisons between different types of foods, like whole-grain bread vs. white bread vs. rice vs. brown rice, and use the information to choose the product that better fits our nutritional goals and preferences.

We must keep in mind, however, that while this chart can sort for caloric efficiency or fiber density, it doesn’t make any assessment of the types of fibers in each product and how they physiologically affect the body. As such, the usage of the chart in relationship to total fiber intake should be viewed in the context of food and fiber diversity until we get more specific recommendations. Never deny yourself a piece of fruit or vegetable because it doesn’t have “enough” fiber in it. It could be exactly the “right” type of fiber your gut bacteria need. Rather, if we have a choice between eating something that is lower in fiber vs. higher in fiber, maybe start leaning towards a higher fiber option more frequently. Maybe make more room to specifically eat more high fiber options and whole foods instead of refined sugar products. At least be thinking that, “Hmmmmm maybe I should be trying to eat more fiber instead these donuts. Next time, Gadget. Next time.”

Using the dialectical model of having the outcome goal of 14 g/1000 cals per day, as well as the process goal of trying to increasing daily fiber and/or fiber diversity, it allows us a lot of different ways to make progress and adhere to a diet and the super-cool goal of healthy eating and enjoying lots of tasty foods. It is in accordance with current evidence which indicates that, while we don’t know specifically how much of what fibers to eat to improve what health characteristics, we know that overall total increased intake at ~14 g/1000 calories/day of diverse array of dietary fibers is an optimal approach. If we can’t hit that target, trying to change behaviors necessary to hit those targets becomes the goal.

For more information on things like fiber and gut bacteria, check out Dr. Gabrielle Fundaro, IG: VitaminPhD. As of this date she has done a podcast for Revive Stronger and JPS, in addition to exclusive content for RP+.

Check back for updates made to the chart periodically as it automatically updates via Google Sheets whenever I change anything. And here it is, one last time for the link to view in Google Sheets.

Works cited