Auntie Ann was one of the matriarchs of our family. At her funeral my cousin said of her: “In a family where so much importance revolves around food…Auntie Ann was our roughage. Roughage is raw and honest. It has no pretensions. It gives to us in abundance.” 

It’s true: “Roughage,” aka fiber, is a massively underrated super nutrient (and so was Auntie Ann, but that’s a story for another time). 

Fiber, the part of plant foods we can’t absorb, does much more than just regulate our bowels. You can think of fiber as the Marie Kondo of your digestive system: it doesn’t just clear out and organize your bowels, it also sparks joy. 

How is this joy created? Fiber feeds the microbiome, which has been linked to just about every aspect of our health.

For example, fiber processed by the microbiome triggers the release of the feel-good molecules serotonin and dopamine. Not surprisingly, high-fiber diets have been linked to lower risk of depression.

High-fiber diets can also naturally drive weight loss. In fact, fascinating research has demonstrated that eating fiber triggers the release of GLP-1, the satiety hormone that the new weight loss drugs Ozempic and Wegovy are synthetically mimicking.

Fiber has been linked to a laundry list of other benefits, from cancer prevention to better metabolic health to lower levels of inflammation.

Yet, less than 5% of us are getting enough of it. This has a lot to do with the processed food industry, which purposely strips fiber out of food to make it less satisfying and more addictive.

The takeaway:

Increase the amount of fiber you eat to feed your microbiome and dramatically improve your health. (If you’ve concluded that you probably get enough fiber because you’re not constipated, I’m happy for you, but I wouldn’t bet on it.)

Eat 30-50g of fiber per day without spiking your blood sugar

The goal is to get a lot of fiber without creating big blood sugar spikes. Despite popular belief, bread, rice, and pasta are not the solution: they’re more like rocket fuel for your blood sugar with a small amount of fiber that comes along for the ride.

Here’s how I hit my fiber goals while supporting my metabolic health:

1. Eat a lot of plants, including the skin

Aim for 5-7+ servings of plants per day. If you’re eating plants at every meal, you’re probably going to hit your fiber goals.

Don’t forget to eat the skin, which often contains 50% or more of the fiber content.

2. Get creative with high-fiber toppings

You can easily add 15g+ of fiber a day just by topping what you normally eat with nuts, seeds, and berries. Here’s an example from my breakfast:

3. Use swaps

In the name of Auntie Ann, here’s to a week of more roughage and finding sparks of joy in unexpected places, 

Dr. Lauren Kelley-Chew
@drkelleychew

I’m a Stanford and Penn-trained MD and health tech founder with over a decade working on health optimization in Silicon Valley. Biohacking for the Rest of Us is my answer to medical elitism – I want all people to have access to cutting-edge science that can dramatically improve their health.

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