44 Best High-Fiber Foods for a Healthy Diet

By Wilma Crank February 28, 2024 2 mins read 58 Views

These healthy high-fiber foods help you feel full, support your digestive system, and make achieving your weight loss goals a lot easier.

Due to the highly refined, modern American diet, the average American isn't getting enough of one of the most important nutrients: fiber. Without a consistent intake of healthy, soluble, and insoluble high-fiber foods in your diet, you'll experience dips in energy, have difficulty losing weight, and also increase your risk of diabetes and other metabolic issues.

Article Highlights

What is fiber?

Dietary fiber is a class of complex carbohydrates described as an indigestible long chain of sugar molecules. Fiber is naturally found in complex carb foods such as fruits, veggies, grains, and legumes.

This class of carbohydrates can be further broken down into two different forms: soluble and insoluble.

Health benefits of eating high-fiber foods

Many different studies have highlighted how eating a diet high in fiber can boost your immune system and overall health, and improve how you look and feel. Some of the benefits of a high-fiber diet include:

Digestive health. The most commonly cited benefit of fiber is its ability to support healthy bowel movements. Dietary fiber bulks up a stool to help move waste through your body. Eating a diet rich in high-fiber foods can help prevent constipation, reduce your risk for diverticulitis (inflammation of the intestine), and provide some relief for irritable bowel syndrome (IBS).
Diabetes. An American Journal of Clinical Nutrition study found that fiber acts as natural protective armor against C-reactive protein (CRP), a sign of acute inflammation. When CRP is circulating in the blood, you are more likely to develop diabetes or cardiovascular disease down the road.
Heart Health. "By improving cholesterol levels and decreasing inflammation, fiber can help to reduce heart disease risk and decrease blood pressure levels," says Tanya Zuckerbrot MS, RD, an NYC-based registered dietitian, who is also the founder of the F-Factor diet and a bestselling author.
Body Weight. Fiber's bulking properties can help you feel fuller, which promotes weight loss by creating a caloric deficit without hunger.