In the Afternoon
Drink bottled chocolate milk. The combination of the chocolate and the compounds needed to keep it suspended in the milk provides 1.5 grams of fiber in every 8 ounces.
Pop a pack of light popcorn. Snack on popcorn instead of popping open a bag of potato chips. There's 8 grams of fiber in every bag of popcorn.
Have a low-sodium V8. The low-sodium variety has 2 grams of fiber. The V8 that comes spiked with salt has half that amount.
Graze on trail mix. Choose trail mix instead of a granola bar. Most granola bars have only 1 gram of fiber, while trail mix with dried fruit has nearly 3 grams.
More: Metabolism-Boosting Foods: 4 DIY Spicy Snacks
At Dinner
Toss 1/2 cup of chickpeas into a pot of your favorite soup. The chickpeas will absorb the flavor of the soup and tack 6 grams of fiber onto your bottom line.
Swap a sweet potato for your standard spud. Sweet potatoes have 2 grams more fiber per tuber than the typical Idaho variety. Not a fan? At least eat the skin of the regular potato—the skin alone has 1 gram of fiber.
Go wild when you make rice. Cup for cup, wild rice has three times the fiber of white rice.
Add some green to your red sauce. Doctor your favorite jarred pasta sauce with 1/2 cup of frozen, chopped spinach. The spinach will take on the flavor of the sauce and pad your fiber count by more than 2 grams.
Prepare whole-wheat or spinach pasta instead of the regular semolina kind. A cup of either has 5 grams of fiber.
Cook broccoli, cauliflower, and carrots., This will add 3 to 5 grams of fiber per serving, as much as twice what you'll get if you eat them raw. (Heat makes fiber more available.)
Use uncooked oatmeal instead of breadcrumbs. Next time you make meatloaf, swap uncooked oats for breadcrumbs. Add 3/4 cup of oats per pound of ground meat, and you'll boost the total fiber count to more than 8 grams.
More: 3 Fast and Healthy Dinner Ideas
At Dessert
Say nuts to candy bars. Bars with almonds, like Almond Joy and Alpine white chocolate with almonds, have about 2 grams of fiber—almost twice the fiber content of bars without nuts.
Top a bowl of ice cream with sliced fresh berries in lieu of syrup. One-half cup of raspberries provides 4 grams of fiber; strawberries and blueberries pack half that amount.Introduce your pie hole to a slice of apple, cherry or berry pie. You'll add an extra 3 to 5 grams of fiber. Cake doesn't have nearly as much fiber.
More: 15 Low-Fuss, Big-Flavor Recipes
Stay healthy with our nutrition guide.
