When you think of bowel health, the first thing any doctor or nutritionist will recommend to you is to increase the amount of fiber in your meal. The standard amount necessary to maintain healthy bowel functionality lies between twenty-five to thirty-five for children and adults.
However, in the diet of the majority of people, even half the recommended amount isn’t reached. With a shift towards health in the present age and to cope with the fast-paced society, drinks high in fiber were introduced.
These drinks allow you to reach your daily intake easily, and you don’t have to go to a nutritionist to get a diet suited to get the perfect fiber amount. However, the best option still is to get these fibers from food rather than the easy route of drinks for better health benefits.
Smoothies containing carrots, bananas, strawberries, oranges, pears, raspberries, apples with skin, almonds, pistachios, and more are rich in fiber and are easy to prepare at home. However, if that’s too troublesome for you, try ready-to-go beverages like Olipop, Gist, or Halfday for modern drinks with high fiber content.
Here we will discuss various fruits, nuts, and vegetable smoothies that you can easily make at home and may contain high fiber content. In addition, some modern beverages as your ready-to-go fiber-rich drinks.
Homemade High Fiber Drinks
Before going into our homemade drinks, it is significant to note that while fibers in your diet may not seem all that crucial to you, they come with an abundance of health benefits.
Soluble and insoluble fibers are responsible for keeping your gut health in tip-top condition. So, having them in your diet is necessary, and here beverages play the role of a readily available source of fiber.
However, not all drinks are healthy, especially commercial products, as they are sugar bombs (some alternatives are there, but not without problems). To cope with this dilemma, you can whip up a smoothie to get half the required fiber (fiber/day) in one go without any adverse effects.
1. Banana and Milk Smoothie
If you like milkshakes, then no need to look far and wide. You have every ingredient ready at your disposal. You can get roughly 10-14g of fiber from one banana smoothie.
This smoothie can be made using your run-off-the-mill milk or almond milk to spike up the drink with some extra fiber.
Ingredients
- Two Bananas
- 1-2 cups of milk
- 7-9 almonds without skin
- Oats (optional, for extra fiber)
- Ice cubes (3-5 per cup)
- Sugar/sweeteners (optional)
Instructions
Start by breaking bananas into smaller chunks and putting them in a blender. Also, add almonds to the blender with milk. Start with a small amount of milk, roughly 1-2 ounces, for proper blending of chunks and almonds.
Add the rest of the milk and sweetener (if you’d like) with ice cubes to make a cold and refreshing smoothie with high fiber content. Also, it is a fulfilling breakfast drink with pancakes or toast.
2. Fruit Mix Smoothie
This smoothie is the perfect alternative if eating fruits isn’t your thing.
Ingredients
- Half a cup of Orange juice
- 5-7 Raspberries
- 5-7 Strawberries
- Half an Apple with skin
- Half a Pear
- One teaspoon of Lemon juice/sweetener (optional)
Instructions
This smoothie is even simpler to prepare. After you prep the ingredients, you have to transfer them to a blender and make the juice. That’s all; however, one thing to be mindful of, it can be highly citric, so lemon juice can sometimes make it non-drinkable.
This drink can give you a highly fiber-packed smoothie, reaching as high as 20g per drink. However, if your stomach isn’t used to taking large quantities of fiber at once, it can lead to problems.
3. Chia Seeds With Tea or Juice
Chia seeds are another great source of fiber. However, these seeds form a slimy mixture and may not be to the liking of everyone, so start with a tiny amount, and see if it suits your taste.
The best thing about them is their versatility, i.e., usage in teas, juices, milkshakes, or other smoothies.
Ingredients
- 1-2 tsp. chia seeds
- A cup of iced tea
- A cup of juice (see fruit mix smoothie)
Instructions
This smoothie requires you not to spend any effort whatsoever if you have your juice or tea prepared. All you have to do is add your chia seeds into the mix and let them settle for 1-2 minutes, and enjoy!
A special tip, in this case, is to soak chia seeds in water for a gel-mixture formation beforehand. That way, you will only have to add chia seeds to the juice and drink it readily.
4. Fruit-Veggie Smoothie
Another great mix is to have a veggie-fruit smoothie. To make the drink more palatable, you can use lemon juice and black salt for an improved taste.
The taste of the drink is influenced by the fruit and vegetable pairing. So, ensuring that selected choices go well together is something you have to look out for.
Ingredients
- 2 oz. Orange Juice
- 5-6 oz. Carrot Juice
- 1 tsp. Lemon juice
- A pinch of Black salt
Instructions
If you don’t have orange juice and carrots, you can always use a blender to make these juices by throwing in the ingredients and blending well. But mixing them is the most crucial step in this process. Check this article out to find the golden rule for mixing fruit and vegetable juices.
However, it’s always best to go with what works best for you because, for most people, fruit juices are likable, but the same isn’t the case for veggie juices.
The best and possibly easiest option is using psyllium husk and water. Psyllium husk is usually taken for weight loss and to get over an upset stomach, which is attributed to the high fiber content.
Modern Drinks With High Fiber Content
With the significance of fibers coming to light and how they are closely related to the prevention of diseases, especially in the later stages of life, industrial products are not falling behind. Some of the new and innovative drinks worth trying out are mentioned below.
Halfday (Tea)
Halfday iced tea comes in numerous flavors and packs 8 grams of fiber in one serving. Check the official website for more details.
Olipop
Olipop comes with 1 gram more fiber than Halfday (i.e., 9 grams per drink) and has even more flavors you can choose from. For an insight into Olipop, check their official site.
Gist
Currently, the primary focus is adding fibers to your routine water or sparkling water, and that’s exactly where Gist comes in. They’ve managed to put 4g of prebiotic plant fiber in a delicious drink to keep your gut healthy, and your body energized.
Conclusion
With this, you know a range of high-fiber drinks and where the future of these drinks is heading. However, to re-emphasize, you can make smoothies at home using vegetables, fruits, nuts, and other ingredients that are high in fiber or buy beverages like Olipop, Halfday, or Gist, etc.
