Chia seeds, goji berries, strawberries, raspberries: Tiktok users go by the name “Impami Babie” fill her cute wooden breakfast bowl with fiber-rich food and shoot, urging audiences to eat more bloated.
She is “#FiberMaxxing.” Practices in eating meet or exceed daily fiber intake recommendations, with names such as improving gut health and losing weight. Tagged videos have earned tens of millions of views and likes. They generally feature people who cook and eat meals packed with fiber-rich foods, sometimes covered with texts detailing the amount of nutrients in their dishes and health benefits.
Tiktok looks at you, sees Nyquil Chicken and #Skinnytok, and goes beyond a fair bit of the questionable dietary trends, but sometimes I was surprised at what was actually worth trying. For now, it’s fibre-like.
“Most Americans don’t get enough fiber for their diet, and that’s a problem,” Manaker, owner of Nutrition Now Counseling, a nutrition communications business based in Charleston, South Carolina, said in an email.
American Dietary Guidelines recommend that adults consume 22-34 grams of fiber each day, which is generally dependent on age and gender, but the guidelines recommend that over 90% of women do not meet these recommendations.
“Whether you add chia seeds to everything, sneak veggies into your diet, or find a new way to love whole grains, Fiber Maxix may be a trend we didn’t need,” Moneyker said.
Gastroenterologist Dr Kyle Staller added that proper fiber intake is “a recommendation that has not changed for years.”
“There are a lot of trends coming and going, but the textile is old, but goodie,” said Staller, director of the Gastrointestinal Motility Institute at Massachusetts General Hospital and an associate professor of medicine at Harvard University School of Medicine in Boston.
But as with other things, especially the trends in Tiktok, Fiber Max X can definitely have a drawback when making major changes quickly, Staller says.
There are two types of dietary fiber. It is soluble and insoluble, experts said.
Soluble fibers dissolve in water and absorb it to form gel-like substances, and are more relevant to some of the digestive benefits of the fiber, experts said. Insoluble fiber, on the other hand, does not dissolve in water and helps people to defecate more frequently and heavier.
“Balance between both is key to overall wellness,” Moneyker said. “If there are too many one type and the other types are not sufficient, you can have digestive problems such as bloating and constipation.”
Most fibrous foods contain both types. Foods rich in soluble fiber include apples, bananas, citrus fruits, barley, carrots, oats, beans and chryllium. This comes from the seed shells of the Obata plant, according to Mayo Clinic. Those with almost insoluble fiber include vegetables such as green beans, cauliflower and potatoes. Whole wheat flour or wheat bran. Nuts and beans. Many Tiktok videos from Fiber Maxx x feature distinctive diets made from these different foods, including colorful salads that mix a variety of lush greens and vegetables. The Impamibaby breakfast version of Tiktok users is common among Fibermaxxers and is rich in insoluble fiber.
Among these two types of fibers are other forms and properties of fibers that are also important for gut health, Staller said. The viscosity of the fiber affects how well it flows through the digestive tract, while the fermentability of the fiber affects the degree to which the gut microbiota actually ferments the useful compounds that use the fiber as an energy source.
“Finally, how are fibers packaged?” Staller has been added. More processed, cut, raw or cooked foods – all these forms have different effects on digestive health, even if the food contains the same type of fiber.
However, you don’t have to worry about tracking all of this to increase your fiber intake. Staller said eating a variety of whole or minimal processed foods gives you plenty of what you need.
According to Jennifer House, a registered dietitian and founder of First Step Nutrition, the link between increased fiber intake and slower colon cancer rates can be explained by several factors.
When the fibers increase the stool, it reduces the time waste is in contact with the intestinal tract. “We also produce our gut bacterial fermented fibers, and what we call short-chain fatty acids, such as butyric acid,” she added.
Also, recent studies suggest that people with colon cancer may be more likely to survive if they increase their fiber consumption, Staller said.
Fiber can also reduce the risk of other chronic diseases and health conditions, experts said, including type 2 diabetes, high cholesterol, cardiovascular disease and early death. Improved digestion also reduces the risk of constipation-inducing problems such as hemo and pelvic floor problems.
Part of the reason why fiber helps prevent or manage these conditions is to help regulate blood glucose by slowing digestion, to a healthy degree – and to aid in the absorption of sugar into the bloodstream and reduces blood glucose spikes after meals.
Fiber helps you maintain a healthy weight. This could help keep its glucose regulation and fiber longer, reducing overall calorie intake, Moneyker added.
Some tictalkers claim that FibermaxX can also help “detoxify” your gut. Some experts don’t love the word given all the pseudoscience associated with diet culture. But fiber helps with poop, so it “literally helps to remove toxins from your body,” House said.
Additionally, some fibrous foods, such as lush vegetables and nuts, support liver health, which plays an important role in detoxification, Moneyker said.
Also, experts are learning more and more about the connection between our gut health and mental health, House said.
If you want to start fibermax removal, first “moving from zero to 60 when you don’t consume any fibers will probably not work,” Staller says. This is because when fiber draws water into the digestive tract, the area expands, causing discomfort and bloating in people who are not used to normal fiber intake.
Start low and slow, by adding berries to your regular cereal breakfast or changing one meal higher with fiber, the house suggested. Before increasing your intake, after doing it for a week or two, see how you feel. Staller said some types of fibers don’t work for everyone, so listen to your body and adjust accordingly. Working with a nutritionist is great when navigating major dietary changes when you can.
Fiber supplements, especially those made only with plantain shells or primarily made – can be useful if you have problems with taking sufficient fiber or medical problems that need to be addressed more aggressively, such as high cholesterol, sources said. However, they should not replace fibrous foods as you miss out on all the nutrients, minerals and vitamins they have to offer.
There are several ways you can incorporate fiber into your already-eating meals, such as swapping white rice, bread and pasta in the whole grain version, Moneyker said.
Nutrition guidelines for American sites include hundreds of commonly available foods and a list of fibers included by standard serving sizes.
If the water for fiber to bring into the digestive tract does not have water, the fiber can cause more bloating, gas and constipation due to dry stool, sources say drink fiber.
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