The Slow Kitchen Podcast

Episode 32: "Fibermaxxing: My Thoughts on the Internet's Latest Health Obsession"

• Cat Dillon • Season 1 • Episode 32

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Podcast 32:  “Fibermaxxing: My Thoughts on the Internet's Latest Health Obsession”


In This Episode You'll Learn:

  • What the fiber maxxing trend gets right—and where it can go wrong.
  • The different types of fiber (soluble, insoluble, fermentable fiber, resistant starch, and FODMAPs) and what each one does in your body.
  • Why fiber is essential for blood sugar balance, gut health, cholesterol, metabolism, and healthy aging.
  • Why eating a wide variety of plant foods matters even more than simply hitting a fiber goal.
  • What research suggests about aiming for around 30 different plant foods each week.
  • How to safely increase your fiber intake without ending up bloated, gassy, or uncomfortable.
  • The signs that your gut may need a more individualized approach to fiber.
  • Simple, practical ways to optimize your fiber intake using real food instead of chasing extremes.


Mentioned in This Episode:

🌿 Gut Garden Challenge (FREE) - Join me for a simple challenge to help you eat 30 different plant foods each week with easy daily guidance and a supportive private community.

Eating more plant fibers helps you feel fuller longer, supports steady blood sugar, calms cravings, and creates a healthier environment for fat loss. It also supports heart health, healthy cholesterol, lowers inflammation, and helps your body naturally eliminate excess hormones and toxins—making it one of the simplest ways to support your metabolism, hormones, and overall health.

Dietary Fiber Intake and Gut Microbiota in Human Health (2022)

Microbiota-dependent and -independent Effects of Dietary Fibre on Human Health (2020)


🌱 Mood & Metabolism Collective
If you're looking for ongoing support putting these ideas into practice, join the Mood & Metabolism Collective. Inside you'll find:

  • Blood-sugar-steady recipes
  • Drag-and-drop meal planner with smart grocery lists (including Instacart integration)
  • Monthly cooking classes
  • Nutrition resources for women over 40
  • A supportive community to help you build a calmer, healthier relationship with food


💚 RevitalizeHER: Wellness & Health Strategy Call 

A 30-minute strategy session designed for women over 40 navigating fatigue, digestive issues, stress, hormone changes, or stubborn weight. We'll identify your biggest roadblocks and create a personalized roadmap to help you move forward.


Need Support?

If you're ready to stop chasing nutrition trends and start building a way of eating that actually supports your metabolism, hormones, gut, and nervous system, I'd love to help.

Whether you're looking for practical meal ideas inside the Mood & Metabolism Collective or want personalized guidance through a RevitalizeHER Wellness & Health Strategy Call, there are resources designed to meet you where you are.

And if you enjoyed today's episode, I'd be so grateful if you'd leave a review, subscribe to The Slow Kitchen Podcast, and share this episode with a friend. It helps more women discover a calmer, more sustainable approach to nourishing themselves. 💚


More Resources for You:

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SPEAKER_00

Hi everyone and welcome back to the Slow Kitchen Podcast, where real food meets real life so your nervous system can finally exhale. And in just 15 minutes, we'll explore simple, nourishing approaches to food and cooking for metabolic health and longevity. I'm Kat, registered holistic nutritionist and former shop, and I share stories from my kitchen, practical tips that you can use right away, and timing habits that quietly upgrade your cooking, shift your relationship with food, support your metabolism, and most importantly, calm your nervous system. And before we get started, I have one quick favor for you to ask. If you enjoy this podcast, please rate and review it and send it to a friend who might appreciate it too. I'll wait. I'm just kidding. Your support does, though, help the show grow and reach even more women with these conversations. And don't forget to subscribe to this Low Kitchen podcast feed so you stay connected. Everyone seems to be talking about fiber right now. Fiber maxing, gut health hacks, and the idea that more fiber can solve everything. But is it actually a helpful trend? Or can it turn into a gut disaster if you go too far too fast? Fiber maxing started as a social media trend, but it's really built on a real issue. Most people don't get enough fiber. The idea is pretty simple and straightforward. You add more fiber rich foods to meals and snacks. But when people push it too hard, too fast, and that is really when problems can start. So yes, the idea can be helpful, but the execution is what really matters here. So let's simplify fiber for a second. Fiber is a type of carbohydrate that we don't fully digest or absorb. Unlike protein, fat, or other carbs, it doesn't directly give us calories or nutrients in the usual way, but that doesn't mean that it's useless. In fact, it plays a massive role in our health. Fiber is found in plant foods like vegetables, fruits, legumes, grains, nuts, and seeds. And while there are many ways to classify fiber, there are really just a few main types you need to understand. Soluble fiber mixes with water and forms a gel-like substance in your gut. And that gel slows digestion, helps stabilize blood sugar, and keeps you feeling fuller for longer. And you'll find this in foods like oats, beans, lentils, apples, citrus fruits, barley, and psyllium. But insulable fiber doesn't dissolve. It mostly passes through your digestive system intact. But its main role is to support elimination and help keep things moving regularly. Think whole grains, wheat bran, nuts, seeds, and many vegetables. You may also hear about fermentable fibers or resistant starch. These are types of fibers or fiber-like carbs that your gut bacteria can use. They get fermented in the colon and help feed beneficial microbes, which can support gut health, immune function, and metabolism. Foods like onions, garlic, bananas, oats, asparagus, chicory root, and Jerusalem artichoke all fall into this category. Some people also react strongly to thawed maps, which are a group of rapidly fermentable carbohydrates that can be poorly absorbed and may trigger bloating, gas, abdominal pain, diarrhea, or constipation in sensitive people. Examples include fructans, which is the F. And fructans include things like garlic and onions. We've got the O, oligosaccharides. Those can be found in certain grains and beans. We've got the disaccharides, such as lactose and polyols, or sugar alcohols like sorbitol, which contain are contained in certain fresh or dried fruit and sugar-free items, or even xylitol, which you may have heard of in your toothpaste. And sometimes you'll see that located in keto and low-carb foods, even gum, I've seen xylitol in. But there are also saper sugar alcohols. And if you like that kind of thing, I'll be going over those in another show. And just to be clear, FODMAP sensitivity is not a diagnosis by itself. It's more of a real clue that something else may be going on, like IBS, SIBO, motility issues, or a gut that's become sensitive over time. There's also supplemental fibers like psyllium, imulin, methylcellulose, and partially hydrolyzed guargum. These can be helpful in certain situations, but they're really more of a tool than a replacement for real food. I still like to think food first because whole foods give you fiber plus vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients that supplements just don't provide. That's why chia, basil seed, my favorite, flax, beans, lentils, fruits and vegetables, nuts and seeds are such smart daily staples. Now, why do we care so much about fiber? Well, fiber supports regular bowel movements, helps with elimination, slows gastric emptying, improves blood sugar control, and helps lower LDL cholesterol. It's also associated with lower blood pressure, better fat metabolism, and a reduced risk of conditions like obesity, colon cancer, IBS, and inflammatory bowel diseases. It also supports gut health overall, which matters for the integrity of the gut lining. But here's the important part not all fiber does the same thing, and that's why variety really matters. Different gut microbes break down different types of fibers. So when you eat a wide range of plant foods, you're feeding a diverse ecosystem in your gut. Getting 30 grams of fiber is great, but getting it from a variety of plant foods is even better because different fibers, like I said, are going to feed different populations of microbes. So that idea of plant variety is one reason the American Gut Project got so much attention. It helps spotlight the fact that a more varied intake of plant foods is linked with a more diverse gut microbiome. A practical goal is to aim for about 30 different plant foods per week, and yes, herbs and spices can count. Hey, quick break. I just wanted to tell you about my gut garden challenge. We're focusing on simple ways to feed your gut with 30 different plants over the week, one day at a time. If you're curious to join me, click the link in the show notes to sign up. It's totally free, easy to follow, and you'll get daily guidance plus access to a private chat feed for the week. If you're curious, come on and check out the link. So back to fiber maxing. So this trend encourages people to dramatically increase fiber intake, sometimes pushing towards 50 grams, 70 grams, even 100 grams per day. And yes, there's some truth behind it because certain traditional populations like the Hadsa and Tanzania or the Yanomami and the Amazon, they consumed extremely high fiber diets from tubers, fruits, and wild plants. But context matters. And those diets are built from lifelong exposure, very different environments, and very different gut adaptations than the average modern Western diet. So I should say people are looking at those populations and looking at their lifestyles free of diseases and interpreting that as their high fiber diet is very protective of chronic disease in those populations. So, as I was saying, jumping straight into a very high fiber intake can kind of backfire if you're not careful. General recommendations are around 25 to 35 grams per day for adults. If you want to optimize, you may aim for about 35 to 50 grams if you tolerate it well, but really going much higher than that isn't necessary for most people and sometimes can create issues. Too much fiber too quickly can lead to bloating, gas, cramping, and in rare extreme cases, bowel obstruction. It can also interfere with the absorption of minerals like calcium, iron, and zinc. And for some people, it can make it harder to eat enough calories, especially if they're trying to build or maintain muscle. The key is to build gradually, increase fiber slowly, drink enough water, and allow your body to adapt. Some gas is a little normal. It's part of fermentation, but your system usually adjusts over time. And a practical approach is to add one fiber-rich food at a time rather than changing everything at one time. For example, you can try adding a tablespoon or two of chia seeds, ground flax, hemp seed, or basil seeds to your breakfast, to your smoothie or to your porridge. You could swap refined grains for legumes or a legume-based pasta like a lentil or chickpea pasta. I love black bean pasta or mung bean pasta. You can snack on fruits, nuts, seeds, or raw vegetables instead of something packaged. You can add about a half a cup of lentils to meals. Love lentils with steak or salmon, such a great base. Include a variety of vegetables across the day instead of repeating the same one. So there's really so many examples of how you can increase your fiber. If you have digestive conditions like IBS or a history of bowel obstruction or diverticulitis, it's important to individualize your approach and work with a practitioner. In IBS, low FODMAP strategies are often used to identify triggers, but the goal is usually to broaden the diet again once symptoms are better controlled. So instead of fiber maxing, think about fiber optimizing. Focus on better sources, more variety and consistency, not extremes. One of the biggest mistakes people make is thinking that if something is good, more must be better. And that's not how physiology works. Better is better, better quality, better variety, and better consistency. Fiber supplements and drink mixes can help in certain situations, but they don't provide that same nutritional complexity as whole foods. The bottom line is this fiber, incredibly important, but it doesn't have to be extreme. Make it a natural, consistent part of your daily routine through thoughtful whole food choices, and your body will respond. Before you go, don't forget to sign up for that Gut Garden Challenge. It starts on Sunday night. It's free and super easy to follow, and a very simple way to start adding more plant variety to your week. I'll see you next time.