Fiber for Weight Loss: How a High-Fiber Diet Can Benefit You

Dietary fiber is in many foods, particularly fruits, veggies, and plant-based carbs. Since your body doesn’t digest the stuff, it doesn’t “gain” that part of the food you eat. That’s where fiber for weight loss comes in.

Weight management is an important element of overall health — it can prevent and control things like heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and other serious conditions. So a high-fiber diet is well-advised.

And yet, according to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, more than 90 percent of women and 97 percent of men aren’t getting enough daily fiber. The good news is that once you know how to incorporate the right amount of fiber into your diet, it’s pretty easy.

Ahead, learn what kind of fiber offers the most health benefits and how to get more of it to fight inflammation, boost weight loss, and stay regular.

Absolutely. But not all fiber is created equal.

There are two main types of dietary fiber: soluble and insoluble fiber. Both have their benefits, but soluble fiber is the best fiber for weight loss.

Soluble vs. Insoluble Fiber for Weight Loss

Soluble fiber is found in lots of fruits and veggies, as well as some grains. It’s known as viscous fiber because it absorbs water during digestion and turns into a gel-like substance that lines your large intestine.

Soluble fiber slows down the digestion process and prevents the intestines from absorbing nutrients, which can actually make you feel fuller for longer (more details on this ahead). Other benefits include staving off blood sugar spikes and improving insulin sensitivity, which can help minimize extra fat storage.

Insoluble fiber is also found in many fruits, vegetables, and some grains. It helps speed up the digestion process, keeps bowel movements regular, and bulks up stool.

Many foods contain both types of fiber — we’ll tell you all about fiber-rich foods in a bit! Today, we’ll mostly be talking about the benefits of soluble fiber.

Research suggests that prebiotic dietary fiber (the soluble type that isn’t digestible) promotes more active gut bacteria that help reduce:

• Infectious or antibiotic-associated diarrhea

• Symptoms associated with inflammatory diseases of the digestive tract

• Risk of cardiovascular disease

• Allergies

• Absorption of fat and cholesterol

And they seem to increase:

• Satiety and weight loss (thus preventing obesity)

• Mineral bioavailability (how much of the nutrients from food are actually absorbed in your body)

• Excretion of bile acids and some fatty acids produced by gut bacteria

Keep reading to learn exactly how all this helps with weight loss.

1. Fiber Makes You Feel Fuller Longer

Does fiber make you feel full? You bet!

There’s been some debate about whether fiber makes you feel full faster or for longer. Even though dietary fiber intake is associated with lower body weight, neither the type of fiber nor the amount of fiber necessarily impacts satiety (a feeling of fullness) or how much you eat.

More recent research has found that fiber dilutes calories in a meal, which can lead to longer-lasting satiety. Feeling fuller more quickly and for longer can help reduce overall caloric intake (i.e., portion control) because you won’t need to eat as much to feel satisfied.

On top of satiety, fiber has been linked to decreased cholesterol, which, in turn, lowers the likelihood of stroke and type 2 diabetes.

2. Fiber Improves the Gut Biome

Your gut relies on different kinds of bacteria to help with various processes, like blood sugar control, weight management, and immunity.

Bacteria are also alive. To stay healthy, they need nutrients to function properly — including prebiotic fiber.

Fiber fuels bacteria to ferment so they can continue to flourish and do their thing. Fermentation in the large intestine is important for heart health and preventing heart disease.

Healthy gut bacteria can also help keep your bowel movements normal and your digestive system working smoothly (for example, preventing constipation and bloating). On the other hand, lower levels of gut bacteria diversity can lead to intestinal damage.

What’s more, fiber has been linked to increased neurotransmitter (brain chemical) production. This is promising because it might lead to new treatment options for depression and future studies around the connection between gut health and mood disorders.

3. Fiber Helps Reduce Belly Fat

Soluble fiber can help gut bacteria do their job better, which is (partly) to fight belly fat.

One study evaluated whether lifestyle factors were associated with a five-year change in abdominal fat. It found that increased soluble fiber intake coupled with rigorous exercise led to changes in the fat that lines internal organs, like the abdominal cavity (including the liver, intestines, kidneys, and stomach).

Specifically, for every ten grams of soluble fiber, the rate of internal organ fat decreased by almost four percent.

Soluble fiber didn’t seem to make a difference in reducing fat between muscles and the skin. But internal organ fat is actually more likely to cause health problems.

4. Fiber Helps With Inflammation

Feeding gut bacteria with dietary fiber can also help with the inflammation associated with rheumatoid arthritis (an autoimmune disease) and other sources of inflammation, like inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).

Inflammation is an immune response when your body tries to fight off an infection or injury. It can also happen when you’re tired or dehydrated.

When you’re inflamed, you may feel pain, soreness, or general discomfort. Though you can’t see internal inflammation, it can sometimes manifest as visible swelling, bloating, or puffiness.

In one review of research, people who ate lots of vegetables, fruits, and other fiber-rich foods tended to have lower BMIs (body mass index). The anti-inflammatory properties of the foods they ate helped lessen their pain.

The review also found that folks with rheumatoid arthritis who were on a high-fiber diet had 25 percent higher insulin sensitivity than those on a high-protein diet.

According to the Dietary Reference Intakes for Fiber, men should get 38 grams of fiber a day, and women should get around 25 grams a day. For reference, one cup of raw oats has eight grams of fiber.

According to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, the best diets for weight loss and cardiovascular disease prevention limit red and processed meats, sugary drinks, sweets, and refined grains. And the best eating plans for losing weight include:

• Vegetables

• Fruits

• Legumes

• Whole grains

• Low- or nonfat dairy

• Lean meats and poultry

• Seafood

• Nuts

• Unsaturated vegetable oils

Getting enough of these foods is a good way to ensure you’re also eating enough dietary fiber.

As noted, healthy eating calls for lots of fiber-rich foods. A high-fiber diet for weight loss should include a mix of:

• Legumes. Think lentils, chickpeas, kidney beans, lima beans, black beans, and split peas.

• Seeds. High-fiber seeds include chia seeds and flaxseeds.

• Fruits. Some of the best fruits for fiber are raspberries, apples, bananas, blueberries, pineapple, prunes, and avocado.

• Complex carbohydrates. This includes whole grains like quinoa, farro, and brown rice, as well as certain veggies like sweet potatoes, Brussels sprouts, artichokes, and corn.

One way to incorporate more high-fiber foods for weight loss into your diet is to make healthy swaps. For instance, if you’re craving something sweet, have some fruit instead of grabbing processed or refined sugary treats. If you’re in the mood for carbohydrates, fill up on brown rice pasta.

That said, there can be too much of a good thing. One review pointed out how excess fiber can cause diarrhea and dehydration and actually increase bloating and gas. So filling your pantry with fiber supplements and going overboard on fiber-rich foods isn’t the solution.

The effectiveness of taking a fiber supplement for weight loss is pretty unknown. Right now, no one is sure if these have the same benefits as dietary fiber you’d get from food.

Studies have seen inconsistent results. Some participants have reported health benefits from certain fiber supplements, while others saw negative side effects, like increased inflammation.

That said, other studies show more promise with fiber supplements that contain glucomannan (a type of water-soluble fiber).

The best rule of thumb is to talk to your healthcare provider or dietitian about adding these to your routine.

Fiber and weight loss go hand in hand. It won’t be a miracle fix all on its own, but eating high-fiber foods can help you reach your goals.

Here’s the bottom line about fiber for weight loss:

• Fiber is essential when it comes to maintaining a healthy weight, and it can help stave off heart disease, high blood sugar levels, inflammation, and obesity-related conditions like high blood pressure.

• The best fiber foods for weight loss include fruits, veggies, legumes, seeds, and whole grains.

• Both soluble and insoluble fiber are important, but soluble fiber (aka viscous fiber) tends to be the best for weight loss. So the best fiber supplement for weight loss would be something containing soluble fiber.

• Eating lots of fiber might lead to a decrease in belly fat. It can help promote feelings of fullness and improve your gut microbiome too.

• Does fiber make you gain weight? Nope! But going too hard with fiber supplements could make you temporarily bloated.

• Weight loss is best achieved through a comprehensive lifestyle approach. This includes things like exercising, getting enough sleep, staying hydrated, and taking care of your mental health.

The journey is different for everyone. For some, weight loss medications or other interventions might be a good fit. Explore affordable, holistic weight loss plans on our platform.