What is Fiber and why is it important for your health?

Fiber is a naturally occurring part of plant-based foods like: whole fruits, whole vegetables, whole grains, beans, nuts and seeds. There is no fiber in food that comes from animals such as: meat, chicken, fish, eggs, cheese, milk, yogurt, cottage cheese or protein powders (like whey protein), which come from milk.

Fiber is important for many reasons, but most importantly it does the following:

• Fills you up and keeps you full longer after meals
• Keeps your bowel movements regular and healthy (well-formed….not too soft or hard, and comfortable to pass)
• Helps control your blood sugar after eating
• Helps lower your cholesterol
• Helps prevent diseases such as colon cancer, diabetes, heart disease and obesity

After gastric bypass, duodenal switch, or gastric banding surgeries your fiber intake is greatly reduced. This is because immediately following surgery; you are instructed to follow a high protein, liquid diet, which should not contain any significant fiber. But as you recover, you are able to include more solid foods in your diet. Fiber is something you want to eat plenty of everyday for all the reasons outlined above.

How much fiber do you want to eat each day? If I were counseling you before your surgery, I would tell you that you need 25-35 grams of fiber per day (see FITTING FIBER INTO YOUR DIET). Dietitians and other healthcare providers base the amount of fiber you need on the number of calories you eat each day. Our rule-of-thumb is 14 grams of fiber for every 1000 calories you eat. Most people I have helped who have had bariatric surgery might be consuming 1000 to 1400 calories per day, at six months to one year post-surgery. For this reason, I recommend that you gradually increase your fiber intake to 14-20 grams each day by your 1^st year post-op anniversary, or as early as six months following your surgery, as tolerated.

However, immediately following surgery you won’t be eating as much food or as many calories as you did before your surgery, so your fiber intake will be lower too. I recommend you begin including small amounts of fiber in your diet during the “pureed food” (baby food consistency) stage of your diet. How can you do this? By using a food processor, blender, or VitaMix (Use my affiliate code to receive free standard shipping on a VitaMix blender) to puree whole fruits, vegetables, and bean soups. These contain naturally occurring fiber; providing a meal you can eat.

You can also eat small amounts of natural nut butters each day, (peanut, almond, cashew, etc.) found at your local grocery store. These contain healthy fat and fiber. Do be careful though with nut butters. They contain quite a few calories in a small amount of food (about 100 calories in each tablespoon), and eating too many calories will prevent weight loss, and, of course, the whole purpose of having weight-loss surgery is to lose weight and to get healthier! I recommend no more than 1-2 tablespoons per day of nut butter. Even with nut butter you need to find a way to increase your daily fiber intake.

As an alternative, you can use a fiber supplement. Simply blend this supplement into your protein shake to increase your fiber intake. Metagenics BariatrX Essentials has a product called “Daily Fiber”. Two scoops of “Daily Fiber” contain 6 grams of dietary fiber.

Gradually, as you begin to increase solid foods in your diet following surgery, try to eat 14-20 grams of fiber daily, by eating more whole fruits, vegetables, beans, whole grains, nuts and seeds. Read food labels and tally-up your daily fiber intake for several days in a food journal to see if you are reaching the 14-20 grams per day.

Below is a copy of a food label. Notice two categories on this label: serving size and dietary fiber. The serving size for this food is 1/2 cup. For every 1/2 cup of this food, it contains 3 grams of dietary fiber.