For all of human history, there have been toxins. What these toxins are has changed over time due to industry, but our body still knows what belongs and what doesn’t. When there is a chemical that isn’t supposed to be there, it must be detoxed. But what was done before supplements, special drinks, medications, and whatever other kind of detox? Our body used fiber.

Fiber used to be very plentiful in ancient diets. Whole grains, beans, nuts, seeds, root veggies, green veggies, and fruits made up most of our diet, with meat being one of the only non-fibrous foods eaten. In many places in the world high fiber diets are still common. With this old-fashioned whole foods diet, fiber often reaches 40 grams or more. But in modern western diets, fiber has decreased and decreased until most are only getting around 5 grams a day, with the main source being the little bit of potato fiber in fries and chips. This causes our whole detox system to fall apart!

Fiber is something made by plants, that we can’t break down, so it will continue through into the poop mostly unchanged. Just about everything else in our food will be broken down and absorbed, but fiber keeps going. It acts like a sponge, grabbing and cleaning out any gunk in the gut. Without fiber, it’s like trying to clean with cold water and a hand. With fiber, there’s an absorbent scrub pad cleaning everything.

Though our body can detox in a few ways, through urine, sweat, or the gut, the main detox for a lot of toxins is the gut. This is done by the liver, which is the detox powerhouse of our body. The liver draws toxins out of the blood, and puts them out into our gut whenever a meal comes down through. The liver’s intention is that these toxins will get stuck in the fiber that is supposed to be in each meal. If there is not enough fiber, the toxins get reabsorbed into the blood. All that effort from the liver, wasted! The liver will keep trying though, hoping for fiber to be there next time.

And it’s not just toxins that are swept out by fiber. Excess cholesterol is taken out too. In fact, that is the only way our bodies can get rid of excess cholesterol in the blood. The liver takes excess cholesterol from the blood and puts it in the gut, hoping for it to get caught in the fiber sponge.

When most people try to increase fiber, they find it can be pretty hard. The recommended amount of fiber is about 35 grams a day. If you’re starting at 5 or 10 grams, this can be a huge change to your diet, which will take a lot of commitment. But getting rid of these excess toxins is going to make the vast majority of health conditions improve, and particularly will help with preventing heart disease, cancer, autoimmune conditions, and many gut disorders.

Here are some examples of fiber in foods. This doesn’t have every higher fiber food, but it can be a starting point for thinking about how to include fiber:

	Fiber
Beans, cooked, 1 cup	16 g
Lentils, cooked, 1 cup	15.5 g
Chia seeds, 1/4 cup	12 g
Avocado, 1 medium	10 g
Peas, cooked, 1 cup	8.5 g
Sweet Potato, cooked, 1 cup	8.2 g
Raspberries or Blackberries, 1 cup	8 g
Almonds, 1/4 cup	4.5 g
Apple, 1 medium	4.5 g
Oatmeal, cooked, 1 cup	4 g
Brown rice, cooked, 1 cup	3.5 g
Tomato, raw, 1 cup	2.2 g
Potato, mashed, 1 cup	1.4 g
Kale, raw, 1 cup	1.3 g
Romaine Lettuce, raw, 1 cup	1 g
White rice, cooked, 1 cup	0.6 g

If you noticed from the table, many things that people might think of when someone says fiber, such as greens in a salad, are not actually very high in fiber. Greens are still super healthy for other reasons, but if you want fiber the biggest hitters are legumes (beans, lentils, and peas), fruits (especially berries), avocado, and nuts/seeds (most especially chia seeds). Whole grains and root vegetables are good sources as well, especially since it’s easier to eat a large quantity of them.

Some people can get more gassy when they suddenly increase fiber, especially if using beans to do so. In some people it can even take a couple weeks for the gut to adjust, but it will be happier once it does! There are of course some people who are just sensitive to beans, or other foods on the list above, so you might need to try a few options to find what your gut likes the best.

It could be useful to count up your daily fiber for a week and see how close you are getting, learning recipes along the way. When eating out it can be hard to know how much fiber is in something, but if you write down the ingredients and approximate amounts in the restaurant food, you can calculate later. You also might be able to get a good estimate from an online search for a dish.

The high fiber journey can be tough at first. But once you’re on it, every cell in your body will thank you. I’ve seen many patients with supposedly incurable diseases get back to normal by hitting their 35 gram daily fiber goal. Remember, your liver is doing its part! Do your part by giving it the fiber it’s counting on!