I Tried Fibermaxxing for 1 Month—Here’s What Happened

Reviewed by Dietitian Mandy Enright, M.S., RDN, RYT

Key Points

• Fibermaxxing is a social media trend of meeting or exceeding daily fiber needs.

• The easiest way to increase fiber intake is to add more fiber to meals you’re already making.

• In addition to meeting fiber needs, benefits include bowel regularity and feeling more satiated.

Last year, I experimented with eating a wider variety of plants to help me take better care of myself while dealing with medication-related appetite changes. It gave me some useful strategies and insights, but it didn’t give me a reliable appetite or make remembering to eat effortless. There are still days when feeding everyone else comes more naturally than feeding myself.

Then came fibermaxxing, the social media trend of meeting or exceeding your daily fiber needs. I was seeing it everywhere, and it felt like an inspiring chance to revisit my efforts with a narrower focus on counting grams instead of plants. Since research suggests only about 6% of U.S. adults meet their fiber recommendation, I also knew I’d be in good company. For about a month, I added more fiber to my usual meals and noted what helped, what took effort and how I felt.

How I Set Myself Up for More Fiber

I started with a 28-gram daily goal, then gradually raised my personal target to about 35 grams. The Food and Drug Administration’s 28-gram Daily Value is a reference based on a 2,000-calorie diet, not a personalized prescription, but it seemed like a great place to start. My goal was consistency.

Instead of following a high-fiber menu or meal plan, I focused on adding fiber to the meals I already made. This allowed me to boost the fiber in the foods I loved, like adding lentils to soups and meat sauces.

For the first week, I tracked my fiber intake pretty closely with photos, recipes and labels. Then, once I got the hang of it, I relied more on memory and routine. I also estimated some intake after the fact because, while I wanted to be thorough, I also needed (and wanted) to live my life naturally. I have two young kids, so flexibility is important.

I drank a daily “stacked water” that included creatine, chia seeds, fresh citrus juice, frozen berries and occasionally an electrolyte packet. About six months ago, my naturopath also suggested I try Metamucil because I was feeling constipated, and it worked so well that I’ve kept it in my diet. Both of these approaches also helped me get more water, which is important when increasing fiber intake to prevent constipation.

Adding too much fiber at once can cause gas, bloating and stomachaches. So I did my best not to overload my system in the beginning by adding it gradually.

Benefits of Eating More Fiber

I Felt More Comfortable

The clearest change was in the bathroom. I was more regular, felt like I’d fully evacuated my bowels when I went and was generally more comfortable overall. While I can’t separate how much benefit was from my meals versus from the chia, Metamucil or additional water, I appreciated the overall difference. Because I increased my fiber gradually, I also didn’t have any discomfort beyond my normal, occasional bloating.

Familiar Meals Had More to Offer

I added things like dry red lentils to a pot of tortellini soup, a can of beans to pasta dishes, and extra chickpeas and frozen peas to Indian dishes we made. It was a practical way to add fiber without starting dinner from scratch. It also helped that my kids could still enjoy familiar meals, too.

I Felt More Satiated After Meals

I felt much more satisfied after meals, which makes sense, since fiber tends to make you feel more full. On the flip side, filling up on extra beans, veggies and grains sometimes left less room to reach my protein targets.

Some Benefits Go Beyond My Experiment

Of course, I can’t measure everything fiber might do. For example, research supports soluble fiber supplementation for lowering LDL (bad) cholesterol, but I didn’t measure that during this experiment. That said, feeling more comfortable and satiated and finding ways to feed myself consistently mattered more than trying to prove a long-term health outcome in a few weeks.

My Challenges with Fibermaxxing

Eating Without Much Appetite

Feeling satisfied after a meal was a plus, but having little appetite before it wasn’t. Some days I still had to make myself eat more than I wanted. Since starting my medication a few years ago, breakfast has been hard to stomach, but rediscovering how much I liked oat bran made a morning meal feel much more appealing.

Tracking Homemade Meals

Sometimes adding lentils to dinner was easier than calculating my share of them. A half-cup of dry lentils in the pot of rice doesn’t translate to a half-cup in my bowl. That made some of my totals useful estimates rather than precise measurements.

Busy Days Need Backup

As a busy, working mom of two, packaged options and a fiber supplement helped me get closer to my goal. My Metamucil label listed about 3 grams per rounded teaspoon, and my Oroweat Keto tortillas provided 17 grams each. Having these backups was helpful.

My Favorite Foods for Getting More Fiber

• Oat bran: This cozy, five-minute breakfast was super satisfying and offered over 7 grams of fiber per ½-cup serving.

• Pears: I developed an appreciation for pears, a fruit I’ve rarely been drawn to. Since a medium pear provides about 5.5 grams, it seemed like an easy win.

• Berries: Raspberries and blackberries were a daily snack and added about 4 grams of fiber per half-cup of either berry.

• Lentils with white rice: Inspired by dietitian Kylie Sakaida and her rice, lentil and quinoa idea shared in her cookbook, I often cook 1 cup dry white rice with ½ cup dry lentils. A separate ½-cup serving of cooked lentils provides about 7.8 grams of fiber. For reasons shared above, I couldn’t count the exact amount per serving, but it was a nice bonus.

• Canned beans, chickpeas and frozen edamame: Adding drained and rinsed canned white beans (about 13 grams of fiber per cup), black beans (about 17 grams), chickpeas (about 10 grams) or cooked edamame (about 8 grams) to an existing recipe was an easy way to upgrade a meal.

• High-fiber tortillas: These prepackaged tortillas are soft, squishy and genuinely delicious, both on their own and for burritos, tacos and quesadillas.

My Takeaway

The past month has felt rewarding and beneficial, if only as a chance to take stock and find new meal and snack options. If you’re curious about fibermaxxing, start with one or two easy additions, then increase gradually and drink plenty of fluids. Before making any major changes, check with your health care provider, especially if medications or digestive conditions affect your appetite.

By my best estimate, I reached or exceeded my 35-gram goal most days. But more than that, I rediscovered foods I enjoyed, developed a love for foods I rarely ate and found ways to make my existing meals work a little harder—something I plan to keep doing for the long haul.

Read the original article on EatingWell