Fibre for Vegans

Fibre for vegan diets - how to eat enough fibre as a vegan

Fibre intake is associated with numerous health benefits. However, most people in North America consume far less than the daily recommended intake levels. Fibre may be my favourite nutrient. I love helping people increase fibre intake because it’s one nutrient where people can often feel the effects (hopefully in a good way!).

What is Fibre?
What Fibre Does in the Body
Daily Intake Requirements of Fibre
How to Consume Enough Fibre
Vegan Food Sources of Fibre

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What is Fibre?

Fibre refers to a group of carbohydrate compounds that are not broken down by the body ¹. Instead, they either pass through the intestinal tract untouched or are digested by the good bacteria that live in the intestinal tract ¹.

There are many different types of fibre found in foods and several ways to classify types of fibre.

The most common classification method for fibre is whether the fibre mixes with water or not.

With this type of classification system, the two main types of fibre are:

Soluble fibre: Soluble fibre mixes with water and creates a gel in the intestinal tract. The gel that is created is very similar to what happens when you make a chia seed pudding or a flaxseed “egg”.
Insoluble fibre: Insoluble fibre does not mix with water. This type of fibre typically moves through the digestive tract unchanged and is often considered a good “bulking” agent (for increasing stool size).

The types of fibre could also be classified based on whether it is digested (aka fermented) by gut bacteria or not.

Additionally, there’s a type of carbohydrate called resistant starch. Most starch found in food is digested by humans however there are some starch molecules that are not digestible. These are called resistant starches (resistant to digestion) ¹.

What Fibre Does in the Body

The primary role of fibre is to provide bulk to stool. Since much of the fibre we eat is left intact, it moves through us whole and creates the bulk of our stool (stool = poop). This bulk helps keep things moving through the digestive tract which can be very beneficial for health. In this way, fibre intake could also help with constipation.

Fibre also helps keep us feeling full, literally. Fibre physically keeps our intestines full since it isn’t broken down.

Another important role of fibre is to “feed” the healthy gut bacteria we have. Most gut bacteria lives in the large intestine. By the time food gets down into the large intestine, it’s mostly digested and absorbed so there isn’t much left beside the fibre (which isn’t digested or absorbed). This fibre then becomes food for the healthy gut bacteria. When bacteria break down fibre, it creates short chain fatty acids which may also play an important and positive role in health.

Increased fibre intake has been associated with decreased risk for:

Cardiovascular disease ¹^,²^,³^,⁴^,⁵^,⁶^,⁷including high blood pressure ⁸^,⁹^,¹⁰, high cholesterol ¹¹^,¹² and stroke ¹³
Type 2 diabetes ¹^,¹⁴^,¹⁵
Obesity/ weight management ¹^,⁶
Colorectal cancer ¹^,¹⁶

Breast cancer ¹⁷^,¹⁸
Head and neck cancer ¹⁹^,²⁰
Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis ²¹^,²²
Total risk of mortality ²³^,²⁴^,²⁵

Fibre intake may also be helpful in the treatment of the above conditions and:

Irritable bowel syndrome ¹^,²⁶
Cardiovascular disease progression ²⁷
Kidney disease ²⁸

If you have any of these conditions, you need to be under the supervision and care of a medical doctor/ team. Always speak to a doctor before making any changes to your diet.

Daily Intake Requirements of Fibre

The Canadian recommendations for fibre intake are: ²⁹

38 grams per day for men age 19-50
30 grams per day for men age 51 and over
25 grams per day for women age 19-50 (pregnant and breastfeeding women have separate recommendations)
21 grams per day for women age 51 and over

Overall, Canadians do not meet these recommended daily intakes. In fact, most Canadians only get half their recommended daily intake ²⁹.

On the other hand, someone following a mostly whole food plant-based diet could get double this recommended amount on a regular basis! While more is not always better, the foods that contain fibre also provide other health benefits so additional intake could be a good idea for many people (not everyone benefits from increased fibre – always talk to your doctor before making changes to your diet and work with a dietitian to implement appropriate dietary changes).

How to Consume Enough Fibre

As with any lifestyle change, it can be challenging for people to increase the amount of fibre they eat. The best way to succeed with lifestyle changes is to set SMART goals. These are goals that are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound.

For example, setting a goal like “I will increase my intake of fibre” does not meet any of the above SMART criteria. Instead, aim to set a goal more like “For the next 2 weeks I will add one serving of a high fibre food to my breakfast meals”. This goal is much more specific, measurable (“one serving”), likely more achievable and time-bound (“2 weeks”). You could take this goal a step further by specifying the high fibre food(s) you would include.

Setting smaller goals can help you achieve them because they’re more realistic. Beyond being more realistic, when working towards increasing fibre intake, going slowly can be important.

Fibre intake can help with digestive health, however some people may notice “side effects” when they start to increase their intake of fibre. The most noted symptoms seem to be bloating, gas and general abdominal discomfort. While these symptoms can certainly happen with increased fibre intake, research shows that humans can tolerate high levels of fibre without any long-term health impacts ³⁰.

Nevertheless, it’s generally recommended to slowly increase fibre intake over time to reduce the chance of any negative “side effects” ²⁹.

It’s also extremely helpful to consume enough fluids when increasing fibre intake. Water and other fluids can help keep masses moving properly in the digestive tract and help with the transition to higher fibre intake.

Vegan Food Sources of Fibre

Unless a vegan food has undergone a process to remove all the fibre, most vegan foods contain at least a little bit of fibre. All whole plant-based foods contain fibre so if these are included in the diet, it’s quite possible to meet (or exceed) intake recommendations.

If you are looking to increase fibre intake, it’s helpful to know what foods are highest in fibre. Whole grains, legumes, nuts and seeds do vary in their fibre content but there is less variation compared to the fruits and vegetables.

With fruits and vegetables, there is more variation in fibre content so to help out, here are lists of high fibre vegetables and fruits.

Higher fibre vegetables include: ²⁹

Sweet potato
Green peas
Corn
Cauliflower
Broccoli

Carrots
Squash
Pumpkin
Edamame
Spinach

Collard greens
Snap peas
Cabbage
Brussels sprouts

Higher fibre fruits include:

Berries, including cherries
Avocado
Pear (with the skin)

Prunes
Banana
Stone fruits (plums, peaches, nectarines, apricots)

Kiwifruit
Papaya

All other vegetables and fruits contain fibre, to varying levels. They are also healthy to include in the diet. For most people, setting any goal to increase vegetables and fruits is a great place to start but if you enjoy any of the foods on these lists then selecting them could increase overall fibre intake.

Summary: Fibre for Vegans

Fibre is an important but often overlooked nutrient. Fibre has many roles in the body and increased fibre intake is associated with decreased risk of many diseases. Intake of fibre may also be helpful to treat certain conditions (always speak to your doctor before making any changes to your diet). It can be quite possible to meet or exceed fibre intake recommendations on a plant-based diet, as long as some emphasis is placed on consuming whole plant-based foods.

Working with a dietitian can be an excellent choice for achieving nutrition goals for long-term health.

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References cited:

Please note that this is a curated list of references for the topics above and is not intended to be comprehensive.

Disclaimer: it is always advised for you to speak with your doctor before making any changes to your diet; please read our full website disclaimer.