Fiber on the Nutrition Facts Panel

As a standard, the Nutrition Facts label you see on the side of food packaging uses:

• 25 grams of dietary fiber for 2,000 calories per day, or
• 30 grams of dietary fiber for 2,500 calories per day

If you look at a label from 100% whole wheat bread, usually one slice has 3 grams of dietary fiber. One slice also has 12% Daily Value (%DV) for fiber. The 12% DV is arrived at by dividing the amount of fiber in one slice (3g) by the amount needed per day (25g). 3/25 = 12%.

Get Your Pear On

Both fruits & vegetables are good sources of fiber - but on average, fruit tends to have more fiber per serving than do vegetables. So, what's the highest fiber fruit? Hard to say exactly - but pears KILL most competitors on the fiber count!

For 130 calories, a large-sized pear yields 7 grams of fiber, which is 25% of your daily needs. A medium-to-large sized Asian pear - like the one pictured here - go for 110 calories and an impressive 10 grams of fiber.

Pears make a great on the go snack...and they also work well in salads. To prevent browning, dip your pear slices in citrus juice before adding to salad. The ascorbic acid (vitamin C) in orange, lemon and lime juice acts as an antioxidant which prevents enzymatic browning that occurs when the fruit flesh is exposed to air/oxygen. This also works well for preserving sliced apples and bananas - plus it adds a nice, tart citrus flavor.

Oroweat Sandwich Thins

Looking for a high fiber enclosure for your favorite burger or sandwich? The new Sandwich Thins from Oroweat® are a great low-calorie, high-fiber alternative to bulky, bread-y hamburger buns. Each sandwich thin has 100 calories and 5 grams of fiber. Whole wheat flour is the first ingredient - but the additional fiber comes compliments of additional wheat bran and wheat gluten. They're soft , pretty delicious and contain about twice as much fiber and half the calories of a traditional hamburger bun. Put an extra-lean ground beef patty, veggie burger or portobello mushroom in there and you've got yourself a high fiber, low-fat burger meal.