The ketogenic diet is one of today’s most popular ways to lose weight, but if not planned carefully a Keto dieter can fall short on fiber. With over 90% of women failing to meet the recommended daily fiber intake1, a high fiber nutritional plan is essential to maximize your nutrition while following a Keto diet. Registered Dietitian and SlimFast Plan Consultant, Maryann Walsh, explains why.
If you are following a ketogenic diet or doing research in preparation to start one, you have certainly seen much talk around counting net carbs versus total carbs. Focusing on net carbs not only complements a ketogenic diet but also helps one focus on increasing fiber intake, which is a great thing because there are numerous health benefits correlated with high fiber intake! SlimFast Keto makes it easy to achieve a high intake of fiber with meal replacement bars that have at least 30% of the daily recommendation (9-13g each bar), making them an excellent source of fiber. Plus, the decadent and convenient Fat Bomb snacks are a good source of fiber with 6g, so they’re perfect to get your fiber on the go!
Why is fiber so amazing? Fiber is a form of carbohydrate but, fiber isn’t fully digested by the body the same way that a refined, white grain or sugary candy would be. Refined carbs turn into glucose fairly rapidly in the body, but fiber doesn’t follow this same path. Fiber helps fill us up supporting satiety and weight management and then passes through our body, aiding in digestion and regularity. There are two types of fiber: Soluble and Insoluble. Soluble fiber (found in foods like chia seeds and artichokes) absorbs water, which not only helps us feel full, it also helps food to pass more easily through the intestines. Insoluble fiber (found in foods like cauliflower and nuts) also adds bulk to help keep us full, and it acts like a scrubbing brush for your intestines, helping them eliminate waste.
A high fiber intake is also associated with a significantly lower risk for developing coronary heart disease, stroke, obesity, diabetes, hypertension, and certain gastrointestinal diseases, and has been shown to improve blood sugar control and insulin sensitivity2.
But wait, there’s more! Inulin, a form of soluble fiber found in SlimFast Keto Bars and Fat Bomb snacks is known as a prebiotic, meaning it helps feed the healthy bacteria in the gut.
So how much fiber should we be consuming daily? Generally, the Institute of Medicine suggests 14g of fiber per 1,000 calories consumed per day and goes on to break down detail recommendations by age and gender:
- Men under 50: 38g of fiber per day
- Women under 50: 25g fiber per day
- Men over 51: 30g of fiber per day
- Women over 51: 21g of fiber per day.
So, there you have it: another friendly reminder to focus on fiber intake, and as mentioned earlier, SlimFast Keto Meal Bars and SlimFast Keto Fat Bombs are a great way to incorporate more fiber into your Keto plan!
- K. Schmier et al., “Cost Savings of Reduced Constipation Rates Attributed to Increased Dietary Fiber Intakes: A Decision-Analytic Model,” BMC Public Health 14, no. 374 (April 2014), https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2458-14-374
- Anderson HW, et al., “Health Benefits of Dietary Fiber” Nutrition Reviews, Volume 67, Issue 4, (April 2009) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19335713