Photo by Nataliya Melnychuk on Unsplash
In short: Most of us eat less fibre than our bodies would like, and in midlife it matters more than ever, because fibre helps steady your blood sugar, look after your heart, keep your digestion moving and feed the bacteria in your gut. You don’t need to count anything. You get there with real food: plants at every meal, lentils or beans a few times a week, whole fruit, whole grains, nuts and seeds, added slowly and with plenty of water.
It’s market morning and you’re standing at the stall with your basket. Leeks, a squash, a bag of walnuts, a few pears, and the green lentils you keep meaning to cook. Somewhere in the back of your mind there’s a voice saying you should eat more fibre. You’ve seen the headlines. You’ve seen the apps that count it, the lists of plants to tick off, and the video of someone stirring three kinds of seeds into a bowl the size of a bucket.
And you wonder: how much is enough? And do I really have to eat like that?
You don’t. Most of what you need is already in your basket. I’m not going to give you a number to chase, because I’ve never found that counting makes anyone eat better or enjoy their food more. Instead, let me show you what fibre does in your body, why it matters so much at this stage of life, and what it looks like on a real plate.
What is fibre, and what does it actually do?
Fibre is the part of plants that we can’t digest. The skin of the apple, the strings in the leek, the coat around the lentil, the outer layer of a grain of wheat. It only lives in plants. There’s none in meat, fish, eggs or cheese.
Because we can’t break it down, it travels the whole length of your gut, and it does useful work all the way along.
It slows sugar down. Some fibre, the kind you find in oats, lentils, apples and pears, soaks up water and turns into a soft gel in your stomach. Picture jam that has just set. The sugar from your meal gets caught up in that gel and reaches your blood gently, instead of all at once. That’s the difference between eating an orange and drinking a glass of orange juice. Same fruit. In the glass, the fibre has gone, and the sugar is free to rush.
It fills you up. Fibre takes up room, needs chewing and stays in your stomach for a while. A bowl of lentil soup carries you through the afternoon far better than white bread and jam.
It helps your heart. The gel-forming kind of fibre holds on to some of the cholesterol in your gut and carries it away, which is one reason oats and pulses are so often recommended for heart health.
It feeds your gut bacteria. I like to think of your gut as a garden. Countless tiny residents live there, and while we can’t digest fibre, they can. It’s their dinner. When they’re well fed, they make little substances that nourish the lining of your gut and help keep things calm.
It keeps things moving. The rougher kind of fibre, in whole grains, nuts and vegetable skins, holds water and adds bulk. Think of it as the broom. I’ll say no more.
How much fibre do you need per day?
Health authorities do give a daily target. What I want you to know is simpler: most adults eat clearly less fibre than they’re advised to, and that’s true at every age. So for nearly everyone, the direction is “a bit more”.
Rather than weighing and counting, I prefer a picture you can carry with you to the market and the kitchen:
Plants at every meal. Breakfast, lunch and dinner each have something that grew.
Half your plate vegetables at lunch and dinner, or a big bowl of vegetable soup.
Lentils, chickpeas or beans several times a week, and on many days if you enjoy them.
Whole fruit a couple of times a day, with the skin when you can eat it.
Whole grains in place of white ones when you like them just as much: oats, wholemeal or sourdough rye bread, buckwheat, brown rice.
A handful of nuts or seeds most days.
That’s the general shape. The right amount for you depends on your body, your digestion and what you’re used to. Someone with a sensitive gut needs a different path from someone who already loves lentils. That’s what I mean by bio-individuality, and I explained it in why what works for your friend might not work for you.
When I work with someone, I often start by asking them to tell me everything they ate yesterday, from the first cup to the last bite. No judgement, just curiosity. It’s amazing how quickly we can see where the plants are missing, and where one small change would make the biggest difference.
Why does fibre matter more in midlife?
There’s no special fibre rule for menopause. What changes is how useful fibre becomes.
Blood sugar gets less steady. Many women find that in perimenopause and after, their energy dips more sharply and their cravings get louder. Fibre at each meal slows things down and helps you feel more even through the day. If the afternoon slump is your daily companion, have a look at the afternoon energy dip in autumn, where lunch is a big part of the answer.
Cholesterol can creep up. As oestrogen falls, cholesterol often rises, and your heart needs a little more care. Oats, lentils, beans, apples and pears quietly help.
Digestion often slows. We move less than we used to, sit more, sometimes drink less, and things can get sluggish. Fibre and water together are the gentlest answer I know.
Your gut talks to your brain. The bacteria in your gut and your mood are more connected than most people realise. A well-fed gut garden is part of feeling well in yourself. I wrote about this in how your gut and brain communicate.
It helps you feel satisfied. A meal with plenty of plants keeps you full for longer, which makes the evenings easier if you tend to graze.
Fibre won’t treat hot flushes or night sweats, and I won’t promise you that. But it supports your heart, your blood sugar and your gut at the very moment they need it most.
Which foods are highest in fibre?
Four families, all of them easy to find and none of them expensive.
Pulses. Lentils, chickpeas, white beans, split peas, flageolets. They’re the champions. A jar or a tin counts just as much as the ones you soak and cook yourself. Just rinse them well.
Vegetables. All of them, raw or cooked: leeks, cabbage, carrots, squash, broccoli, beetroot, spinach, peas from the freezer. Soup counts too, as long as the vegetables are still in it.
Whole fruit. Pears, apples, figs, plums, berries, with the skin when you can eat it. In autumn, chestnuts too.
Whole grains, nuts and seeds. Oats, wholemeal bread, buckwheat, wholegrain pasta, brown rice, walnuts, hazelnuts, almonds, linseeds, pumpkin seeds.
Notice what isn’t on this list: eggs, sardines, chicken, goat’s cheese, yoghurt. They bring protein, which matters enormously after fifty, as I explained in how much protein you need after fifty. But they carry no fibre at all. So the trick is to give them company. Eggs with spinach. Sardines with a lentil salad. Goat’s cheese on wholemeal toast with a pear.
What does a fibre-rich day look like?
Here is one ordinary autumn day, with nothing unusual in it.
Breakfast: porridge or overnight oats with a pear sliced over it, skin on, and a few chopped walnuts. If you’ve never tried overnight oats, I explained why I love them. Or eggs with sautéed leeks and rye bread.
Lunch: a big bowl of lentil and leek soup with a slice of wholemeal bread and a piece of goat’s cheese. Or a warm salad of green lentils, roasted squash and rocket, with a spoonful of plain yoghurt on top.
Afternoon: an apple and a small handful of almonds, if you’re hungry.
Dinner: sardines or an omelette, with a baked potato eaten with its skin, a generous helping of broccoli or braised cabbage, and a few roast chestnuts if it’s the season. Or buckwheat with mushrooms and a green salad. A supper like this, with protein and plants, not too late and not too heavy, also makes for calmer nights, as I explained in why you might wake at 2:30 every night.
Look where the fibre comes from: the oats, the pear, the lentils, the vegetables, the potato skin. No powders, no special products. Just plants, at every meal.
Do I need to count how many plants I eat each week?
You may have seen the idea of counting the number of different plants you eat in a week. I love the spirit of it. Different bacteria in your gut like different fibres, so the more variety you eat, the more varied your gut garden becomes.
But I’d keep the idea and let go of the counting. Counting can turn a lovely meal into homework. Instead, notice whether you eat the same five vegetables every week, and if you do, add a sixth. Buy the purple carrots. Put three kinds of beans in the soup. Sprinkle herbs and seeds. Eating a rainbow of colours is the easiest way I know, and I wrote about it in colour your plate with nutrients.
How do I eat more fibre without bloating?
Slowly. If your gut is used to very little, don’t give it a mountain on Monday. It will complain, loudly, and you’ll blame the lentils. Your gut bacteria need time to adjust to new food, a bit like a garden after a change of season. Here’s what helps.
1. Add one thing, then wait
Choose one addition, for example a pear at breakfast. Stay there for a few days. Then add the next thing. Spread over a few weeks, your gut has time to get used to it, and wind and bloating are far less likely.
2. Drink water with it
Fibre draws water into your gut, and that soft gel I described needs water to form. Without enough to drink, more fibre can actually make you feel blocked. Herbal teas and soups count.
3. Start with small, well-cooked pulses
Red lentils and small green lentils are often easier than large beans. Begin with a few spoonfuls in a soup, cooked until soft. Rinse tinned beans well. Cooking pulses with cumin, fennel seeds or a bay leaf is an old kitchen habit for good reason.
4. Keep the skins and choose the whole version
Potatoes in their skins. Apples unpeeled. The whole orange instead of the juice. Wholemeal bread instead of white, when you enjoy it just as much. There are more ideas in my recipes.
5. Add something fermented
Plain yoghurt, kefir, raw sauerkraut, a little miso in your soup. Fermented foods bring friendly bacteria of their own, and fibre feeds the bacteria already living in your gut. A spoonful or two a day is a pleasant way to begin. If you’re curious, start with my beginner’s guide to fermented foods.
What doesn’t help?
Going from very little to a lot overnight. You may have seen “fibremaxxing” online, where people pile as much fibre as they can into every meal. The speed is the problem. Too much, too fast, brings wind, cramps and bloating.
Relying on one food. A bowl of bran every morning is fibre, but your gut garden likes variety.
Reaching for a powder first. Fibre supplements have their place, but they can interact with some medicines, so please talk to your doctor or pharmacist before starting one. Food brings the fibre together with everything else the plant has to offer.
Pushing through pain. A little more wind for a week or two is normal while your gut adjusts. Pain is a reason to slow down and ask.
Try this for one week
Add one plant a day that you didn’t eat last week. A handful of hazelnuts on Monday. Chickpeas in Tuesday’s soup. A pear on Wednesday. A red cabbage on Thursday. Write each one on a piece of paper on the fridge door, and drink an extra glass of water with it.
At the end of the week, look at your list. How do you feel after meals? How are your afternoons? How is your digestion? Keep the ones you enjoyed, and let the others go. This week is simply for discovering what your body likes.
Frequently asked questions
How much fibre should I eat per day?
Most people eat less fibre than they’re advised to, so for nearly everyone the aim is simply more. A good guide is plants at every meal, half your plate vegetables, pulses several times a week, whole fruit, whole grains and a handful of nuts or seeds.
What are the best high-fibre foods?
Pulses come first: lentils, chickpeas, beans and split peas. After them come vegetables, whole fruit with its skin, oats and other whole grains, nuts and seeds.
Can I improve my gut health quickly?
Your gut bacteria respond to what you eat quite quickly, but there’s no shortcut worth taking. More plants, more variety, something fermented, plenty of water and a slow, steady increase work better than any sudden overhaul.
When should I talk to my doctor?
If you have irritable bowel syndrome, an inflammatory bowel condition or another digestive diagnosis, follow the advice you’ve been given and ask your doctor or dietitian before adding much fibre, as some high-fibre foods can make symptoms worse. And please see your doctor about any change in your bowel habits that lasts more than a few weeks, blood in your stools, ongoing tummy pain or weight loss you can’t explain.
Would you like some help?
Fibre, protein and the balanced plate are part of Six Tuesdays in Montignac, the six-week group programme in nutrition and health I’m running this autumn. If you’d like to hear when the next group opens, write to me at hello@catherinepolet.coach and I’ll let you know.
Would you rather look at your own plate, one to one? Book a free 20-minute call with me. I also coach online, so wherever you live, we can work together. I’d love to hear what a normal day of eating looks like for you, and to help you add to it gently, in a way your body enjoys.
About Catherine
I’m Catherine Polet, a holistic nutrition health coach, yoga and autogenic training teacher for more than 30 years, author and speaker. I help people find a way of eating and living that suits their own body, online in English, French, Spanish and German, and in person in Southwest France.
