The Obesity Guide with Matthea Rentea MD
Matthea Rentea MD leads discussions on obesity and chronic weight management. Her guests range from experts in the fields that intersect with obesity and wellness, to individuals successful in their weight journey. She is a Board certified Internal Medicine and Diplomate of the American Board of Obesity Medicine and founder of the Rentea Metabolic Clinic, a Telehealth clinic for residents of the state of Indiana and Illinois that helps comprehensively with weight management. This podcast is for information and education purposes only. No medical advice is being given. Please talk to your physician for what is right for you.
The Obesity Guide with Matthea Rentea MD
Back to Basics Mini-Series: Quick Fiber Fixes for Better Gut Health
Rounding off our Back to Basics mini-series, this episode is all about fiber—the powerhouse nutrient for gut health and satiety. I’ll break down the best fiber sources, expose some sneaky low-fiber foods (yes, even the salad bar could be letting you down!), and share practical, easy-to-follow tips for gradually increasing your intake without any digestive discomfort. Tune in for simple ways to hit your fiber goal and get it into every meal.
If you've enjoyed this mini-series, I’d love to hear your feedback! Email me at renteaclinic@gmail.com with your thoughts and any topics you’d like to hear about next.
References
Coloring recommendations:
Mini-Course: The Top 5 Mistakes That People Make When Starting a GLP-1
Download Dr. Rentea’s FREE Resource: Power Picks for Metabolic Health
Audio Stamps
00:30 - Dr. Rentea reflects on her two-week break, sharing how simple hobbies like coloring brought unexpected calm and joy.
03:54 - We learn about fiber’s role in satiety, gut health, and cancer prevention, and how most people are consuming less than the recommended amount.
06:15 - Dr. Rentea explains the importance of including fiber in every meal or snack, highlighting top sources of fiber, as well as surprisingly low sources.
08:15 - Find out how increasing fiber intake too quickly can cause digestive discomfort.
Quotes
“The fiber goal for women is going to be 25 grams or more fiber per day. And for men, 38 grams or more per day.”
“When you don't have enough fiber, you cannot reach satiety. So you need there to be some bulk to your meals to have the stretch receptors in your stomach activated.”
“We actually have more bacteria than we have human cells. They need fiber to live on and to thrive.”
“Every meal or snack you have, there has got to be some fiber.”
“People will tell me, ‘Well I have these big bowls of salad’, and the reality is two cups of salad may be up to two grams of fiber. It's not a lot.”
“Remember, every time you increase fiber too abruptly, you can actually get a lot of stomach discomfort, gas, bloating, and a lot of problems. So find where you are and then just go up by a few grams.”
All of the information on this podcast is for general informational purposes only. Please talk to your physician and medical team about what is right for you. No medical advice is being on this podcast.
If you live in Indiana or Illinois and want to work with doctor Matthea Rentea, you can find out more on www.RenteaClinic.com
Premium Season 1 of The Obesity Guide: Behind the Curtain -Dive into real clinical scenarios, from my personal medication journey to tackling weight loss plateaus, understanding insulin resistance, and overcoming challenges with GLP-1s. Plus, get a 40+ page guide packed with protein charts, weight loss formulas, and more.
Welcome back to another episode of the podcast. So today we're going to keep going with this back to basics series. I was going to do more of these, but I think I'm going to end it today with the back to basics with fiber. So we talked about hydration was the first week of January. Then we talked about protein. Now we're going to talk about fiber. I considered doing movement and others, but I want to just see how this series lands with you, kind of see how it's received. And then we could continue to do more of these if I get some good feedback, but I don't. Like to do series that go too long when I don't know what's going on with you. So you all know that I record these episodes ahead of time. When I'm recording this, I am at the end of a two week break that I had. I have to tell you, I have not had two weeks off probably in 15 years. This was something, it's, it's a challenge actually to do this within a clinic because of scheduling patients and, you know, I still answered messages and things like that. But again, I've not had a two week break in the longest time and I feel like a different person. I truly feel a level of calm and rejuvenation that again, I just, I don't know that I felt this in the past decade. So wow, is this amazing. I know this is a true place of privilege to be able to take two weeks off. Just recording this, I feel, I feel like a different person. So it was a really nice break. I got to spend time with my family in Chicago. I got to spend a lot of time with my son, stepkids, husband. I did a lot of, I want to say crafting, what I mean by that. I did a lot of coloring in coloring books and scrapbooking. And that is, so incredibly restful for me. When I realized for me, managing my stress, one of the things is that I need to have hobbies, hobbies are defined as things where you are not getting a productive gain out of it in some capacity. So for example, it's not leading to prestige or elevating your reputation in some way, it's not leading to financial gain. There are really things that you do purely for either relaxation or enjoyment, but it's not. for a purpose of a secondary gain. And this is something, I bring this up because actually one of the first weight loss programs that I ever did, they stressed this of how you really have to build this out. And I don't think I fully grasped that five, six years ago, how important that is, because I think we tend to belittle this stuff. We tend to say, well, well gosh, why do I need to care about having hobbies? And I always used to joke, well my hobby is you know, doing my career and then family, but it's not Look, you need other things. Of course a lot of this I'm having fun with my son. He's sitting there scribbling and I'm using different coloring books and stuff. And I've really realized that I have a very niche style. I don't like the books to be too intricate. So I don't like when it's like, quote unquote, an adult coloring book where, there's these little fine areas I like to use. More of the alcohol based markers. We're going to put a link in the show notes because I'm serious. They don't sell these in the regular store. I got it on Tik TOK shop, but I'll find it on Amazon, the same thing. And I was looking the other day, we were at Hobby Lobby and I was thinking, why are these not sold in the regular store? And then I'm realizing. I really think brands like Crayola have a monopoly on the stores. So anyway, this set is just to die for. I've been loving that. We'll also put the link to, there are some coloring books that I've just been in love with. They're kind of cutesy. They're kind of comforting images. I will put the link if you're curious of what I did with my break. Lots of coloring. All right. So moving forward here, let's get back to talking about fiber. Now, I want to make today's episode short and sweet so you get the point and remember your mission is to actually go and do this stuff. The fiber goal, if you're, and again, always talk to your physician, there's no medical advice here, but just in general. The fiber goal for women is going to be 25 grams or more fiber per day. And for men, 38 grams or more per day. Again, that's in general, you might need more or less. I don't worry about fiber with someone unless they are getting constipated, but I do, every patient that comes into my clinic, I do start with a nutrition audit for a few days. And I can tell right away, to be honest, most people that come in have fiber, usually under 15 grams. Most people are around 10 grams. And the problem that happens is, when you don't have enough fiber. Number one, you cannot reach satiety. So you need there to be some bulk to your meals to have the stretch receptors in your stomach activated. That's number one. Number two, if you don't have enough fiber, your gut microbiome, those are all the bacteria within our gut. We have actually more bacteria than we have human cells. They need fiber to live on. And to thrive, for the good guys to live, is what I always say. And the other thing that happens is we need fiber to decrease your chance of getting things like colon cancer. And we, reason number four we could list on there, to decrease your chance of constipation. I really want you to realize this isn't just about being righteous, that I need you to get your veggies, or beans, or chia seeds, or ground flax seeds, and you hear me talk about all these things when people are in my clinic, we have ideas for fiber in the back of the. planner that they get. There's a bunch of nutrition ideas, and there's a lot of fiber examples in there. And if you join my mini course, the five mistakes that people make when starting a GLP 1, we have a video on fiber with ideas under it. We talk about this a lot, and people really do not understand with fiber. We're going to get into this in a few weeks. They don't understand the different types of fiber and how they could get these things. So in a few weeks, I'm going to bring on my sister, Dr. Rebecca Rentia. She is a colorectal surgery expert. She's in the pediatric area and she talks a lot with her patients about different types of fiber and different types of prescribed or over the counter medications, bowel regimens. We're gonna talk through some of this because a lot of people don't understand, but I wanna do the 1 0 1 version today, which is this every meal or snack. You know how we talked about, is there protein, every meal or snack you have, there has got to be some fiber, and here's what I mean. When you eat breakfast, is there fiber in some capacity? Fiber can come from things like vegetables, you can think about things like broccoli, brussels sprouts, so veggies have that. I need you to actually look up the veggies you're eating and see if they have fiber. Because, I'll give you an example, a really bad source of fiber is salad. So people will tell me, well I have these big bowls of salad, and the reality is two cups of salad may be up to two. grams of fiber. It's not a lot. So I really need you to look at the veggies that you're eating. Fiber also is a really great source comes from berries. So raspberries is a good example of that. Another great source is going to be chia seeds. Another one is going to be ground flax seeds. And, other ones will be, for example, legumes like beans. So these are just a few off the top of my head. Now you can use other supplements as well to help with that. You could use psyllium husk. You could use. Supplement like Benefiber. I really have been starting to incorporate that more and it's been incredibly helpful. So you could do a serving in the morning, a serving in the evening, you can get the sugar free version so that the calorie amount is low and it really works for you. There are so many different products and supplements. And what I want you to focus on first is, is there fiber at every meal or snack? So can we get at least a few grams with every single meal or snack? And then we start to look at, okay, how can we get toward 25? And what you're going to notice is this is why certain dishes, what, for example, when we talk about, like bean salads and things like that, there are just certain things that you're going to eat that are going to be higher in fiber. And a mame is a really good example of that. It's got protein and it's got fiber. So you're going to start to notice, Oh, wow. When I look at these things, These options always really get me where I want to go and these other ones, they don't. So it's not that you're not going to eat those other foods, but you just know they just don't move along the stool for you. They're not feeding the good guys. So I want you to look at, is it in every meal or snack? And then how can you get toward that fiber goal? And I want you to do this slowly because remember, every time you increase fiber too abruptly, you can actually get a lot of stomach discomfort, gas, bloating, a lot of problems. So find where you are and then just go up by a few grams. If you want a lot of other ideas, go ahead and join my mini course because we talk about this a lot. I hope you have a great rest of the day and let me know on social how your fiber is going. Take care. Bye.