Welcome back to The Weight Loss Collab! In today’s episode, we’re putting the spotlight on one of the most underrated yet essential nutrients for weight loss and overall health: fiber. Hannah Schuyler, our resident dietitian, and Dr. Dovec break down everything you need to know about fiber, from what it actually is, why it matters, and how it can help you with gut health, blood sugar management, satiety, and shedding those stubborn pounds. Whether you think fiber is boring or have always connected it solely to gut health, you’re about to discover why it’s “that girl” in your nutrition plan.

We’ll dive into the different types of fiber, the best food sources (spoiler: chia seeds and beans get some major love), how to increase your intake safely, and the critical role fiber plays in keeping you fuller for longer, especially if you’ve had bariatric surgery or are on a weight loss medication. Grab your grocery lists and get ready to rethink your next meal. Fiber is having a moment, and you’ll learn how to make it work for you!

She's a doctor. Hi, I'm Dr. Dovec, and she's a

dietitian. Hey, I'm Hannah Schuyler, and together we are

the Weight Loss Collab. Welcome back.

We are going to do a topic that I want to just start with this.

If you're like, I don't know, fiber, kind of boring, I don't even want to

be engaged. Listen, fiber, she is that

girl. I am stealing Hannah's line on this.

This really, truly might be the most underrated

missing nutrient from your weight loss plan. And

Hannah is going to really give us the deep dive into fiber that

you didn't even know that you needed. So, Hannah, let's talk fiber.

Fiber and more fiber. Fiber, fiber, and more fiber. Yes,

fiber is— I don't want to say it, but I kind of do—

like, she's the new protein. And I think that it's really

not fair. I mean, these are obviously nutrients, so pitting them one

against the other like truly doesn't make sense because they're both really

important. But I think that with— I mean, in the last few

years, um, protein obviously

has been like top of market. It's been in all the

products. Everything you see now is has like added protein in

it. And I don't know if it's just that the saturation finally

occurred that you can't add protein to anything else. And so now the food companies

are looking to, um, you know, pivot and make

money in a different way. So now fiber has become from marketing a

bigger thing, but I think it's in a good way. I mean, food trends—

there's always food trends, it's always cyclical and things. I mean, think back, gosh, what,

a decade ago it was Brussels sprouts were like the

vegetable of the moment. So there's always

something. And so right now I do think it's fiber and I think it's a

good thing. Yeah. I think

it is too. And you've been saying this for a long time.

You, you know, now the rest of the world is catching up to you, our

cutting-edge nutrition expert here. Yeah.

Well, I mean, dietitians are just always ahead of the

curve when it comes to nutrition, but it's kind of that thing that I think

it's like so boring to think about. about that.

Yes, dietitians have been telling you for years to get enough fiber, but

now because it's become trendy, it's like cool to talk about it. It's like, well,

all right, you could have just listened to us this whole time. I know,

I know. Well, let's just— let's go in and let's break down

fiber. We're gonna do the who, what, when, where, how of everything you need to

know, rapid fire. So just brace yourselves for this

episode, you guys, because we're starting off with What

actually is fiber? Like, what is fiber? What is fiber? So fiber

is dun dun dun, a type of carbohydrate, which

I think that is part of the reason too, from— for

bariatric patients and for weight loss and all of these things. Like,

we're so often, you know, and we recommend it too, like we recommend cutting

back the carbohydrates in the diet. Well, fiber is a type of

carbohydrate. Um, it's always going to come from plants. So one of the fun

things Funny to me, because I think these things are funny, is like

you'll see a thing and it's like plant-based fiber, like

fiber from plants, like as if all fiber doesn't come from

plants. It's just one of those silly marketing things, but it makes me laugh. So

it's going to be found in our foods that contain carbohydrates, and essentially it's

kind of like an indigestible type of carb. So it's

gonna really transit through your body without being

absorbed, without really being utilized like a different type of

carbohydrate like sugar would be. Um, You don't really get

energy from it. And so it, it is

beneficial in that sense from like a caloric and energy

standpoint of not providing that extra calories

necessarily, like another type of carb would. And then it has

all these other great benefits that we're going to talk about when it comes

to our heart health, our blood sugar

management, our satiety, weight loss.

Gut regularity is always kind of the big one that people think of when it

comes to fiber. But, you know, it all just really

benefits from it. I know it does a lot of things. I

think when people hear fiber, they instantly think about

helping with constipation and just pooping and gut health and

all of that sort of thing. And so I think people think

Metamucil, Benefiber, And so I want to

expand just our knowledge beyond just these

powdered supplements. And like you said, okay, interesting, it is a

carb. So like, where can we find it? What are the best foods? And how

do we get creative so that it really helps us hopefully be

regular? That's always a good thing. Yeah. But also to lose weight and feel

fuller with, you know, less amounts of food. Right. So

from a food perspective, so first of all, to talk about the supplements, just start

there. Those are fine to incorporate in your diet. And I do think, especially when

we're talking about somebody who is new post-bariatric,

maybe starting on a GLP-1, um, somewhere in that weight loss journey

where they're getting some outside source like, like

medical or intervention. I think that those can be really

helpful for a lot of people because your intake is so low.

It's just hard to kind of meet your goals realistically from food. And what are

those goals? So that's another good thing to point out. So for women, generally it's

recommended about 25 grams of fiber a day, and for men it's

31, 36. I always forget that number and I should look it up.

But anyway, for men it's higher and that's because it's really measured on a per

calorie basis. So it's about 12 grams of fiber per 1,000 calories in

your diet is the goal. Okay. So for women aiming for that,

about 2,000 calories a day on average would be about 24,

25 grams of fiber. So that's kind of where that recommendation. So when

we cut the calories back, we generally expect to see

a decrease in that fiber intake because it's on that kind of per calorie

basis. So that's where you have to be really intentional with it. in adding it

into the diet. And so how do we do that beyond, like you

said, kind of this, the supplementation of

it? A couple categories. Obviously, we're not going to get

it from our protein foods. We're not going to get it from meat. We're not

going to get it from seafood. We're not going to get it from dairy products.

So like, don't— those are important, but you're not going to get fiber from

them. The top— one of the top places you can get it is from like

seeds. So like chia seeds are really popular, I would

say, that you can get. And 2 tablespoons of those has about 8 grams of

fiber. in it, which is incredible. I

mean, like, for a woman, that's like a third of your day's fiber in just

like 2 tablespoons of something. And so

that's an easy one that you can add in. Fruit is going to be another

great place that we get fiber. So things like berries, raspberries

and blueberries and blackberries especially are going to be like really

concentrated sources of fiber. Pears,

apples, kiwi. And then our non-starchy

vegetables. This is another really common thing with fiber is people are like, well,

I eat a salad. You know, with my meal. And like,

oh, sorry, I hate to break it to you, that lettuce probably has like half

a gram of fiber in it. Like, it's very low. What we think of

being these like great sources a lot of times aren't, like our leafy greens.

That's not to say don't eat them, and don't— and especially if you can get

a decent volume of them, then it adds up, but it's not, um, a

huge one. Carrots are a decent one though, I would say.

Um, like, I like to eat baby carrots with meals. I think it's a really

easy side, or like with some hummus or something. Um, which

hummus brings me into like maybe My favorite category of fiber foods, which is

beans and lentils. So black beans,

white beans, kidney beans, chickpeas,

lentils, all these things, about half of their carbohydrate comes

from fiber. And so when you're looking at something that

has, you know, maybe 15 grams of carbs per serving, a

lot of times like 8 grams of that is going to be fiber. So that's

huge if you can add in a serving of that a day. I think it'd

be really helpful. Do you feel like this whole

soluble versus insoluble fiber— I know hopefully you're still

with us, you're not falling asleep— but do you feel like the

type of fiber matters in

that regard, maybe for weight loss? That's what we really care about here.

Yeah. So yeah, so like the insoluble

fiber is going to— it's not going to dissolve in water. It's

insoluble, so it doesn't dissolve in the water. That's going to be the thing that

really helps with the The stool. So adding bulk to the stool, moving

through the GI tract, really dragging things down, um, and

pulling things through. The soluble fiber dissolves

in water, um, and that's gonna be where we lower cholesterol,

but that's also gonna be where we really help with those blood glucose levels, which,

you know, sometimes we see, and we're seeing probably more and more research on, of

like keeping blood sugar management a little bit top of mind when it comes to

weight loss, not just for diabetics, but for everybody, and keeping our insulin

levels more regulated. So. Mm-hmm. I would say that it's both. And

fortunately, when we look at foods that are high in fiber,

um, most of them have both in it. So they're

a combination of soluble and insoluble

ones that are going to be high, for instance, in, um, in one

versus the other. So like I mentioned, chia seeds or pears, those

are almonds. That's a— nuts are another good source. Those are going to be higher

in the insoluble fiber. Things like

apples, green peas, wheat bran, those are gonna be

more soluble fiber. And then things that are gonna fall

right in the middle are gonna be like those berries, oatmeal,

some of our, like our sweet potato, some of our whole

grains, edamame. So some of those other ones that are gonna kind of

fall that have a more even distribution of both. But even the

ones that, like I said, like, like chia seeds that are more insoluble, they still

have a little bit of soluble fiber in them. So it's going to be both.

I mean, I think it's great. Yeah, it's so beneficial to your— the

gut microbiome, which is also a hugely popular

topic right now. And it brings us always back to poop.

You know, constipation happens when you're

on the diet. Like you said, protein has been it. It's always been

about protein, high protein, low carb, little to no added

sugar. That's the high-level overview of what we all recommend, whether you've

had bariatric surgery or you're on a GLP-1 medication.

Now, these 2 phenomenon, surgery and meds, they both

induce constipation, especially after surgery. You might not

be drinking enough fluids. So cheers. You want to always kind of start that

regard, drinking more fluids, getting things going that

way. But what do you think about that early

post-op period when sometimes people

describe like, I have so much pelvis

Pelvic fullness. I had surgery a week ago. I have

not had a first bowel movement yet. Should I try some of

these things like the apples and oatmeal and berries and things like that to try

to add more fiber to get this stool ball out

of my rectal vault? No, I don't think that's the, the time to

be doing it because like I said, it's gonna add bulk to the stool. And

so you don't wanna be adding more bulk to that.

I like that. To me, if you're that bad, it's medical intervention at that point.

Wouldn't you agree? Like, let's get that out of there. Let's do— if we need

to do an enema or something like that, like, get that cleared out.

Um, because your gut just went through something completely different

too. Yeah. So I think that's a unique time.

Um, and there are some, some, um, disease states, just to

point out, that a low fiber diet is the indication of treatment. So if your

doctor ever tells you like, hey, you need to be on a low fiber diet,

Listen to them. So yeah, no doubt about it. I mean,

it does really control how things are moving through.

And then the GLP-1, speaking of that, as we know, part of the

magic on how they're working is they're slowing

down the transit. It slows gastric emptying. So yes, things up

top, you could get some regurgitation, some reflux, but also just

slows down the, the GI tract, gastrointestinal tract in general.

And so You're not going to eat as much. When you do eat, we're

wanting you to get your protein, and then that is by default

going to really just inadvertently be a low fiber diet.

So I do think that this is such an important part of the

conversation that you try to increase your fiber in any

way, shape, and form that you can while you're doing these other methods.

Once you're, you know, post-op and you're, you're on this GLP-1, you're rocking and rolling.

Yeah, I agree. And I think that, you know, that does bring it to another

point of when you are doing this. So a

couple things. One, I think when you're starting to be with— starting to try to

add fiber in, you do have to be really intentional with it. This is not

something that's just gonna occur because you're willing it to. You

have to like seek these foods out. You have to track your

diet probably really to get a realistic expectation.

Something I, you know, figures I've heard is between 90 to 95% of people

are not meeting fiber needs. in the United States. Or so, like,

you're low regardless if you've had surgery, you haven't had surgery, you're not on GLP-1.

Anybody, you and I, probably aren't getting enough fiber in our diet. Like,

um, you know, it's just something that you really do have to, like,

incorporate these very high sources every single

day and regularly. But what, what that also means is,

like, fiber maxing. Like, I don't know if you've heard that term.

No. Oh gosh. You're not as chronically online as I am.

Um, so I get targeted by other things. Other things.

Yeah. So fiber maxing is like this idea of just

like super getting— I'm like, okay, let's just call it like

meeting your needs. Like, let's just start with getting enough, like

adequate fiber. But that's not— doesn't— adequate fiber does not sound as

cool as fiber maxing. So, but if you are getting like

You know, 5 grams a day, for instance, please don't aim for

25 tomorrow. You are going to cause GI

problems. You are gonna feel bloated. You're gonna either poop your pants or not

poop for a week. Like, because the thing with fiber is like,

it helps with constipation, but it also helps with diarrhea.

So it kind of, it just helps with either one. So like,

don't jump up. And then also really, so slowly increase, add a

couple grams, do that for a few days. Like if you're getting 5, aim for

8. And do that for a little while and then aim for, you know, 10

or 11 and then go from there until you're kind of regularly hitting that need.

And then also with that, you do really need to increase your fluid intake as

you do it because it's gonna like all of the— it's

gonna pull that through. And so sometimes too, what we see is like you increase

your fiber and you end up constipated and you're like, I thought this was supposed

to help with that. And it's just because it's created this really dry, hard

bulk in your system and you can't pass it. Mm-hmm.

Yeah, I mean, that, that's it. And then plus, after

bariatric surgery, you now have a much smaller stomach.

And so to try to overwhelm— just

your anatomy sometimes can be a little sensitive. And

you, you don't want to, like you said, jump, and you want to make sure

that you're staying hydrated. You're very deliberate and intentional with your, your

fiber add, but I would definitely encourage them to do that,

um, as you're saying as well. So You already gave us some,

some great examples of things that you would put on your shopping list.

But can you kind of rapid fire through

if some things that you could just like list off here? And by the way,

you guys, we have this on a blog. She just wrote this really

all comprehensive fiber, fiber, fiber guide

on bodybybariatrics.com that really has a lot of this. But can you tell us just,

all right, give me some examples of things you would throw into your cart.

So again, the bean aisle, grab whichever kind you want. And

there's like so many different ways to incorporate that. You can add white beans

into pretty much anything. I just made like a stir-fry meal last

night and it was a ready, like one I just tossed in a pan and

I just opened a can of white beans, drained them, rinsed them,

added them to there. So that's like an easy one. Lentils are

also great. You can soak them, cook them, or you don't have to soak

lentils. That's the great part about them. So you buy them dry. Cook them, and

then you can add them into like a, um, like a red sauce. So if

you're making, um, like a pasta sauce or something like that with ground

meat, um, or turkey, just add lentils in there and it's— it almost kind

of dissolves into the sauce. Almost. It doesn't, but it's gonna like not—

your kids will eat it, stuff like that. Um, again, grab chia.

I do think that like chia seeds or ground flax is another great option. You

do wanna make sure it's ground. Our body can't utilize it if it's whole seeds.

Mm-hmm. So get ground flax. Um, those are great. Add 'em into

yogurt, smoothies. Really anywhere

you can sprinkle onto a— sprinkle flaxseed onto a salad, you won't even

notice that it's there. So those are great. You can make

like chia seed pudding. Avocado. Avocado

is a great option. So some little sneaky ones, like I said,

berries are going to be always my go-to choice when it comes to fruit, but

that's also just because of my preference. But you could do like a berry smoothie.

That'd be a great way. Add some chia seeds in there and it's like double

whammy. You could do really any fruit.

Like I said, pears are a great one because they— pears are good

because they have this other, I

don't know if it's an enzyme,

but it helps with constipation itself. So it's like a separate thing

that will help you go to the bathroom if you're having a problem.

Love it. Such a great— so many great examples. And

there's a really good link and I'll make sure that we like link it into

from the USDA. That is, um,

that, that tells you the fiber per serving of these

different foods. Which, that brings me to something else. When we're talking about this,

like, you're probably— you may or may not be able to eat an entire serving

of these foods too. Yeah. So don't let that worry you if you're

like, well, I can't eat a half a cup of beans plus my

meal. Like, you might only be able to eat a couple bites of it, but

that's fine. Like, add that in. It all counts.

Absolutely. So go ahead.

You go ahead. I don't want to stop you. You're like on this fiver

roll and I'm just like, yeah, just taking it in. You're here for the ride.

So the thing too that, that really helps with is going to be like

we— like you mentioned that gut microbiome. And so you'll hear

the term like prebiotic, like with

probiotics Old, old news. Everybody knows about probiotics.

Prebiotics are the new thing. Fiber is essentially like a prebiotic. And so

what it does is it provides like this food source for the good gut

bacteria. And so that's another thing that as you add this

in can cause some of this upset. You might get like, it might think I'm

getting kind of stinky. Um, you might get some bloating and that's like,

that's, those are good signs though. It means that that good bacteria is feeding

in. And so I kind of feel like too, especially if you're somebody who is

like Recently had antibiotics, um, or

you just feel like your gut is just like— you don't do a

lot of maybe fermented food, you're not getting a lot of those types of things—

maybe adding in a probiotic supplement as well to get you

started. And then you probably can stop it because once you start kind of feeding

that gut bacteria, it can help to kind of proliferate inside you.

But maybe adding in like a probiotic as you

start your fiber journey as well. Maybe start one and then the other,

but just so you can meet out which one is causing

any issues. But that way we're able to feed that good gut

bacteria as well. I mean, if you're not

running and racing over to the store to get your fiber, I don't know what's

going to convince you. And yeah, right. I

mean, bring on the pears. Yeah, there you go.

I don't like pears, unfortunately. I'm so particular about fruit.

So like, I'm the worst person to ask if this is like

Does this taste— I'm like, I don't know, I don't like it. Oh my

gosh. Well, I love fruit, but I am so

lazy. I never buy it, wash it, cut it, and

so I don't eat it. And whenever I go on vacation, I do.

You eat it. See, I'm so jealous because like my husband loves fruit,

like loves fruit, all kinds. So does my daughter. Um,

and I'm just like, it'd be so nice just to be able to grab an

apple and like just eat it, which he does. Or

I bought plums and he just eating plums.

Yeah. And I'm like, for me, I— you're right, like I have to wash the,

the berries. They're gonna go bad in my refrigerator. I'll

do the frozen ones because I'll make a smoothie, but like, or my yogurt. But

no, I just— too much work. You're right, it is so

much. But yeah, when I go on vacation, I'm always like What is it about

this warm tropical breeze that's getting me so regular? Like,

no. Well, first, you're probably allowing yourself to relax, and

second, you are eating fruit. Like, you're eating

fiber. I think I go from 0 to like 50 grams in a day.

Probably. Yeah, I find that with myself too. Like, I don't—

I haven't been tracking my fiber intake, but I do feel like I probably have

big variable shifts and it doesn't seem to bother me.

So, you know, when we say all of that, it's like, well, do what you—

what— do what works for you. I mean, I'm not going to stop you, but

just know if you do increase really quickly, for most people it's going to like

some issues. Um, exactly. Other things that

are really beneficial with fiber— so our heart health is another,

um, really important thing. I mean, first of all, because we

also— one is we know that a lot of times weight loss will help with

heart health. So like secondary benefit of weight loss is also that. So

fiber helps with weight loss, helps with heart health, blah blah blah, all that. But

it also is going to to really help with, um, our cholesterol

levels. So like I said, that soluble fiber actually binds to

cholesterol and helps to kind of grab it from your system and

eliminate it in that stool. So you can just like really help with cholesterol. So

if you're seeing a lot of like high cholesterol, high HDL levels,

like let's get that fiber going, let's increase that. We see that a

lot, I would say, for people when they get their labs done at 6 months

post-bariatric surgery. Um, I'll see them sometimes.

Amber, our PA, will see them, and then she'll have them see me

afterwards, and I'll peek at their labs. And a lot of times I'm seeing that

like higher HDL level at that point. Again, you're focused so much

on like meat and protein that you're getting this like high saturated fat diet.

So that's a time to really start to kind of implement some fiber

in the diet. Um, there's also studies that really show that a high fiber

diet helps with, um, blood pressure and reducing risk

of stroke, which is always important. And then also just reducing

inflammation overall. So obviously from a cardiovascular

perspective, that's important. But like, you know, maybe it's going to help with our youth

and looking beautiful. It's like, let's reduce our inflammation everywhere. Let's do

it. I, I mean, I think we should do a fiber challenge,

and, uh, I think we should all do it. Like you said, I think the

first step To improve ourselves, we must know ourselves. And that is just to

figure out, like, how many grams do we think we're currently

eating? Like, go back to— if it has a label, read the label. How many

are in this? And that's also part of—

what do you think about, you know, calculating the net carbs, looking at the total

carbs, subtracting sugar alcohols, but also subtracting fiber?

Why is that? Do you know why that's part of that equation? So

from what I kind of get from it is that because fiber is not—

like I said at the beginning, it's kind of not being fully broken down and

digested like other types of carbs are— is that it's not really

providing a calorie, and it's not raising the

blood sugar like another type of carbohydrate would.

And so when we, we can kind of like take that out of the

equation, you can subtract that out. Um, and so we

use it in our practice. We do have people— I know that there's other bariatric

dietitians, other bariatric surgeons, other practices that don't use the net

carbs because what I would say is it's probably not the most

studied thing in the world. So it's kind of like, you know, do we use

it? Where I find that I think why I like that we do

it is because ultimately people might be getting the same number of

carbs, but it's encouraging our patients to

get more fiber. Mm-hmm. Because they're trying to keep that net carb low

versus somebody else who might just get 75 grams of carb, But the fiber

isn't kind of counted in there. Like we, we might be getting kind of

2 different things. So while ultimately great, you're gonna still

eat more carbohydrates,

we're doing the net. So you're gonna just, you're gonna aim for those higher fiber

foods to really hit that target, I would say. So it's kind of like a

little tricky way to push the fiber. I mean,

I love that idea. So let's game it. So the first thing All right, how

much fiber am I actually getting? Second thing, drill down even more.

Let's look at the overall day. First, making

sure— big time thing for weight loss, I think, is making sure you're eating

at least 3, 3 meals a day, not skipping meals. And then

looking at your breakfast, your lunch, your dinner, and maybe even snacks, and seeing

of these which meal seems to be low in fiber. Like,

where are my best opportunities to now increase the fiber

realistically on something that I'm going to stay consistent with? Yeah. And I'm going to

actually continue to do. Yeah, and actually, I think an easy

place that a lot of people struggle with in general, just to

think of things, is breakfast. So it's normally kind of our hardest meal to think

about adding protein or adding— like, you know, usually most people aren't eating a

lot of vegetables in the morning. Fine, whatever. Um, but maybe that's a place where

we can add some of these kind of

food-adjacent types of things, like the— like I've talked about, the chia seeds

or the ground flax. Like, you could make an overnight chia pudding

or something that's going to sit in the fridge. So in the morning, you're running

out And you can grab that and go. It's already made for you, or you're

doing like a high protein smoothie with fruit and some stuff added

to it. So I think that's an easy place to add. Again, look at your

meals. Is there a place that I can add a bean or a legume to

this? Yes. Do it. The great thing too with those, they're so

cheap. Like beans are so inexpensive and they add some protein. So benefit

there. You get a little protein from those too.

Absolutely. I love a good bean too. I'm

obsessed. And salads. There you go.

I know you had that picture that you just had that looks so good. I

know the picture describing the survivor stuff. I guess on my— on—

oh yeah, it was briefly on the blog. I took it off. Um,

um, something else that all of this is going to do is, is to help

with blood sugar management. So I kind of touched on that before, but You know,

when we're thinking about— you reposted it recently,

our reel of us saying PFF, protein,

fat, fiber. Yeah. And so that combination really does help with

satiety and fullness, but it helps with the blood sugar management as well. So

fiber is going to help your— everybody is going to have a blood sugar

spike after they eat. So like, don't be afraid if you ever check your blood

sugar and it's higher after you eat than it was before. That's the normal

response. What we want to prevent is very high peaks

and very high spikes for two reasons: one, that we don't want high

levels of circulating blood sugar of sugar in our blood, but also for a lot

of people that causes a crash, and then it causes that crash

causes that craving that you want to eat more. And so it's this like cycle

that you end up in. So we want to we want to temper that.

And so fiber is one of those things that really helps to slow that

blood sugar rise down and keep it. It slows it down and it keeps it

generally lower. And gives you this better, like,

smoother response overall. So that's just another one

of those, like, benefits of, of fiber to throw in there.

I mean, I'm serious, I'm gonna do this challenge. I'm gonna

figure it out. I'm gonna look where my areas are. And then when you

reincorporate it, like, you gave us a ton of great examples.

You got to make sure you also are staying very, very, very hydrated with it

as well. And Maybe journal or, you know,

jot it down or put in your notes or just take mental note. Just be

more kind of like, again, deliberate about your thoughts on,

am I hungry? Am I feeling cravings as much?

Am I full and satisfied after I eat? How

long until I kind of start getting that kind of

hunger growling in my stomach sensation going again?

Yeah, that's definitely one. And, and from a weight

loss perspective, I think one of the really big benefits is it is

just so satiating. And

what I hear is sometimes when people follow up with us again months

out, even a year, 2 years out from surgery, is just like,

I just feel hungry all the time. Yeah. And, you know, I think that there's

2 causes for that. Sometimes I think, especially early on, I think people generally

undereat because they don't know their limits. They feel

like Like they should, they should themselves to death. They should

only eat 2 ounces at a time, which I don't know whoever told them that

because it wasn't me. Um, but you know that they should only eat a certain

amount. So that's the first thing is like eating until you're satisfied. But

also, is it a very low fiber meal? Is it just not have like

any kind of bulk to it that is going to keep you

full, like to keep that satisfaction factor for

longer? Or is it something that's going to kind of

transit through quickly and, and then you're going to feel hungry in an

hour? I mean, it's normal to feel hungry a few hours after you eat. And

I think that's something else is people think that they should never feel hungry

or just because I ate breakfast at 8 that by 2 PM, God forbid, you're

hungry. Like, no, you're probably going to feel hungry around noon.

But, you know, if we can kind of keep it for those 3 to 4

hours, I would say that would be where we would start to see like that's

kind of the normal pattern. Yeah. I agree. I think that

fiber is the secret weapon that is, like you said, protein, fat,

and fiber keeps you full and you need to

reincorporate it, especially if you're stuck or you're feeling

hunger and you're getting that kind of food noise, those obsessive

thoughts about like, oh, I need something. You just might need to fill yourself up

in a different way and fiber might be just that secret nutrient. Yep.

All right. I want to do a rapid fire with you. Okay. And, um,

we're, we're gonna go fast and furiously here. Does

coffee have fiber in it? I was looking that up the other day.

I need to research it. I'll come back to you on that one. Okay. Does,

does an avocado have fiber? Yes. Popcorn?

Popcorn does, cuz it's a whole grain. Okay. Potatoes?

Yes. Especially white potatoes with the skin. Sweet potatoes without the

skin have a good amount of fiber in them. Fascinating. Does

peeling the fruit increase or reduce fiber, would you say?

Taking that skin off? Yeah, like an apple would, a pear

would, something that you, that you wouldn't eat the skin. Now, I wouldn't

recommend eating like an orange peel. No, I,

um, would definitely be taking that bad boy off. I would

not be that lazy. That one would go in the trash. Uh, so

beans, are they a carb? Are they a protein? Are they a fiber? Are they

all of the above? What the hell with these I call them a fiber source

more than anything, and then they're going to give you a little bit of benefit

of, of some protein and some other carbs. Okay, so

this chia seeds, you have referenced them several times. Do you believe that they are

truly worth the hype? Yeah, I think so. Okay,

flaxseed, whole or ground, you covered that.

Um, so you're saying oatmeal is actually good for you?

Oatmeal is— so oatmeal is a tricky one because it's still going to be very

high in carbohydrates. So It really depends on where you are,

what your goals are, but it has some, some other

benefits of the type of fiber that it offers that can help like

with heart health. Okay. Do you

feel like fiber gummies are just as good as getting fiber

from vegetables? Never. I know. And do

you think that fiber supplements actually work? I do. Which,

so maybe the gummies are fine. I just am, I feel like I'm biased against

gummies. I feel like I'm biased against anything that's not just getting it

from food, no matter what it is. Like even protein shakes. We've gone

on with— I've said we've spoken our piece about those many, many times. If you

can get it from a food source, get it from a food source. Always. I

think I agree with you on that one. Yeah, for sure.

I can answer this one. Do I need fiber every day? Yes, queen, you do.

Of course you do. Can bariatric patients take

psyllium? Psyllium husk. Yeah. So that's gonna be like a

type of one of the supplements. I wanna say Benefiber maybe is

psyllium husk. Or there's so many. I always just reference those 2,

Metamucil and Benefiber, but there's like thousands probably of these things on the

market. So, and then I have seen people using that as like a

food product. I haven't tried that. All right. Now,

if you had to pick one single favorite, I only can have one.

What is your personal favorite High fiber food,

your personal favorite. You can only have one. Oh my God.

And you have to get that fiber in. We know that. I'm

gonna say beans. I call it, call it beans. I

just feel like it was that or out of

left field avocado, because like I do love avocado,

but there's only so much you can do with it. That's true. Versatility

of beans is really what gets Yeah, the winner. Hide them

and put them in all kinds of things. Yeah. Um, now

you need to finish the sentence. Fiber is

that girl because—

She fills you up and makes you look good. Okay,

she's that— I mean, that's what we want from all—

from everything. There we go. So all vanity, it's all

about vanity. We all want to look good, and that's why we're— if you're here

to the bitter end talking about fiber, you're gonna be one sexy biatch.

After this episode. So remember, protein first. Still,

our stomachs are small. We need to make sure that we're getting that. Don't skip

meals. Your fiber does matter though, and hydration always.

Hydration always has to be the mix. Otherwise we're going to have some,

some GI tract issues. And we don't want to— we don't want to see you,

you know, having to get disimpacted. No, I, I

don't want to go slow. Go slow. Go

slow. You got this. Well, Hannah, I honest to God learned a lot.

I did. I learned a lot of different things. You always have so many very

creative, uh, examples. You never know what's in this little

head. I'm always surprised. I mean, like, I know I say this all the time

on this podcast. I'm like, oh wow, she knows so much about some

random thing like fiber. I knew really honestly not much of

anything, um, before coming into this conversation, but I can

assure you that I'm going to be a much better follower of

all fiber intake, and I'm going to incorporate it much more into my own personal

life. Good. I hope so. Me too. Honestly, I talk about it a lot. Then

I realize like, oh, you need to like do it. And then I feel like

that's when I'm like, oh great, then that day I had 40 grams.

So if you are listening to The Bitter End and you, you are

super special because text us at our texting line.

Uh,

507-543-0971,

and I will send you a very special 3-day high fiber meal plan.

If you use the words, I'm super special and I listened to the whole podcast,

please send me the plan or something to that effect. That's quite a long

secret code word, but text us and I'll send that over to you.

Don't worry if I slip into your DMs. Yeah, right. I can just, I

can just send it to you. I'm gonna, I'm gonna look

at it. I'm gonna do it. We're doing this thing. Well, thank you so much,

Hannah. This is super interesting. Take us out. How people follow

us? Follow us on Instagram at The Weight Loss Collab,

at Body by Bariatrics, at Dr. Dovek, at HannahSchuyler.RD.

We're on YouTube. We're on all your platforms. Give us a like,

a follow, a 5-star review. We need some love,

guys. So we, uh, but this was great. We're excited to

really bring back some of our episodes and listen to some things again. And,

you know, always send us your ideas or requests for topics. We're happy to

do that as well. But we'll see you next time. Bye, guys.

Bye, guys.