17 Simple High-Fiber Swaps for Every Meal, According to Dietitians

Talking about getting enough fibre to support digestion isn’t as exciting as telling someone they need to pump up the protein to build muscle – something everyone, especially women going through perimenopause or menopause, seems to be chasing these days.

It’s easy to see why fibre can fly under the radar, but regularly coming up short can have an adverse impact on long-term health.

“Fibre promotes a healthy colon and gut microbiome, helps regulate blood sugar, supports healthy cholesterol levels, keeps digestion moving, and helps you stay full between meals, which can make cravings and weight management easier to navigate,” explains Samantha Cassetty, a nutrition and weight loss expert and co-author of Sugar Shock: The Hidden Sugar in Your Food.

No wonder research shows that going bigger on fibre can boost longevity by offering some protection against developing chronic ailments like cancer and heart disease.

Yet more than two-thirds of Australian adults fall short of the recommended fibre intake, which the National Health and Medical Research Council sets at 25 grams a day for women and 30 grams for men.

It’s clear that many of us need to find ways to boost our intake of this under-consumed multitasker. Luckily, a smidge of extra fibre here and a smidge there adds up – and you don’t have to do anything drastic like spike your morning coffee with Metamucil to get your fibre fix. By adding more fibre-filled foods to your meals, you’ll also be adding bonus nutrients. Here are easy, expert-approved ways to sneak more fibre into meals and snacks.

Breakfast

Stir Coconut Flour Into Oatmeal

Why not give your porridge a taste of the tropics? Coconut flour is nothing more than coconut flesh that’s dried, then ground into fine flour. It’s a magnificent source of fibre – 5 grams in a mere 2-tablespoon serving. It stirs very well into a steaming pot of cooked oats and will add just a subtle coconut flavour. Plus, coconut flour has significantly less saturated fat than what’s in coconut milk and coconut oil.

Blend Raspberries Into Breakfast Smoothies

Add a sweet-tart fibre boost to your daybreak smoothies by whizzing in frozen raspberries. A cup of these seedy berries contains an impressive 6 grams of fibre, which is more than most other commonly consumed fruits. As a reference, a medium banana has 3 grams of fibre. And frozen raspberries are typically cheaper than fresh options.

Top Toast With Sliced Pear

Instead of fibre-void jam, adorn your morning toast with slices of sweet pear – a medium-sized fruit contains roughly 5 grams of fibre. A delicious combo is a generous spread of almond butter, sliced pear and a dusting of cinnamon.

Sprinkle Chia Seeds on Yogurt

If you fancy a bowl of yoghurt for your first meal of the day, Samantha recommends sprinkling on chia seeds, which have about 4 grams of fibre per tablespoon. The wee-sized seeds have a pleasant crunch but not much flavour on their own. Add raspberries or blackberries for even more hunger-crushing fibre.

Add Pinto Beans to Scrambled Eggs

You can give your morning scramble a little Tex-Mex flair and a big fibre lift with pinto beans. These mild-flavoured legumes supply about 7 grams of fibre in each ½-cup serving. Beyond a payload of fibre, pinto beans offer up several other nutritional perks, including plenty of plant-based protein, vitamins and minerals.

Stir Ground Flaxseed Into Cereal

On their own, most boxed cereals can’t be considered nutritional standouts. That’s why you should look for ways to upgrade them. Start with milk (for some protein and calcium) and then try this pro tip from Lauren Panoff, a plant-based dietitian: Stir in a couple of tablespoons of ground flaxseed. It’s a simple addition that will net you an extra 4 grams of blood-sugar-stabilising fibre. “The nutrition in flax is more easily absorbed when the seeds are ground,” Lauren adds.

Mix Oat Bran Into Pancake Batter

This is an effortless way to bolster the fibre content of your Sunday flapjacks. Oat bran is made up of only the outer shell (bran layer) of the oat kernel, so it’s especially concentrated in dietary fibre – roughly 2 grams in every 2 tablespoons. All you need to do is swap out about 25 per cent of the flour in a pancake or waffle mix with oat bran, and you’ll boost fibre numbers without doing much to impact flavour or texture.

Lunch

Spread Guac on Sandwiches and Wraps

Starring fibre-rich avocado, guacamole is a perfect swap for mayonnaise or mustard when it comes to a creamy spread for wraps and sandwiches, says Samantha. Every ¼ cup of the avocado mash supplies an impressive 4 grams of satiety-boosting fibre. “Add 10 baby carrots to the side for another 3 grams of fibre,” suggests Samantha.

Toss Edamame Into Grain Bowls

Like other beans, these green soybeans are a guaranteed way to ramp up your fibre intake to help foster a more robust microbiome, says Lauren. Simply tossing a ½ cup of them into your grain bowl gives you an extra 4 grams of fibre. Look for shelled edamame in the frozen vegetable section of supermarkets and easily prepare them by boiling for a few minutes until tender.

Use Roasted Chickpeas as a Salad Topper

Think of crunchy, oven-baked chickpeas as croutons but with way more fibre. A single 28g serving contains an impressive 6 grams of fibre along with the same amount of plant-based protein. Just be sure to look for brands that don’t include any added sugar.

Whisk Hummus Into Salad Dressings

Not only will hummus give your dressing a delicious creamy body, but it adds an extra layer of fibre to your already fibre-rich salads. Each tablespoon has 1 gram of fibre, with some variation expected based on what brand you’re using. For a next-level dressing, whisk together olive oil, red wine vinegar, hummus, a grated garlic clove, fresh thyme and a pinch of salt.

Dinner

Garnish Soups With Toasted Buckwheat

Say hello to your new favourite crunchy soup (and salad!) topper, which adds an extra 2 grams of fibre for each 2 tablespoons. Toast buckwheat groats, which also happen to be gluten free, in a dry frying pan over medium-high heat, stirring often, until darkened and fragrant, about five minutes.

Add Parsnips in Chilis and Stews

Underappreciated parsnips are a great way to bulk up chilli, soups and stews with extra fibre. Each chopped cup of the root vegetable contains nearly 7 grams of fibre. That’s an amount that puts carrots to shame. Plus, when parsnips are cooked, they develop a wonderful nutty-sweet flavour.

Pair Rice with Lentils

As you start incorporating more fibre-rich foods into your day, be mindful of timing and dosing, especially if you’re sensitive to an uptick in fibre intake. It can help to spread a more modest fibre intake throughout your meals and snacks rather than piling it all into one meal. For instance, Samantha recommends adding ¼ cup cooked or canned lentils to your rice for an easy extra 4 grams of fibre. “It’s always helpful to add a high-fibre food, like lentils and beans, to foods that are lower in fibre,” she says.

Toss Green Peas With Pasta

Choosing wholegrain pasta is a good first step to making pasta night a fibre MVP. You can go one better by tossing in some green peas. Each half cup of these green pearls supplies upwards of 4 grams of dietary fibre to support better gut health. You also get a solid dose of vitamin K to help promote improved bone health. Frozen peas typically taste much better than canned.

Make Meatloaf and Meatballs With Wheat Bran

Wheat bran is a great, higher-fibre alternative to breadcrumbs when preparing meatloaf or meatballs. Like breadcrumbs, it also serves as a binder while supplying about 3 grams of fibre in every 2 tablespoons. In recipes, you should be able to swap wheat bran for breadcrumbs in a 1-to-1 ratio.

Dessert

Top Ice Cream With Cacao Nibs

Made by smashing up the cocoa beans that eventually get turned into chocolate bars, cacao nibs add crunch and pleasant bitterness to an ice cream treat. Nutritionally, they upgrade your diet with 8 grams of fibre in every 3 tablespoons. Chopped nuts or unsweetened coconut are also yummy toppings that sneak in some fibre. Who says dessert can’t be part of your plan for racking up the fibre count?