Getting your serving of fiber

While food labels list grams of fiber for processed and packaged products, don’t worry about “counting fiber” to get the recommended 25 to 30 grams per day. It’s much better (and easier) to simply work as many grains, beans, and fresh fruits and vegetables into your diet as you can. Here are some smart strategies:

• Bump up beans. Whether dried or canned, beans and other legumes are among the best fiber sources you can find. For example, half a cup of black beans provides about a quarter of your recommended daily fiber intake.

• Hail the whole. Whole-grain foods contain far more fiber than more processed foods, in which such fiber-containing grain parts as the bran are thrown out. For example, whole-grain bread contains about twice the fiber as bread made with refined flour.

• Preserve the peel. Routinely thrown away, the peel is often the most fiber-filled part of a fruit or vegetable. You're better off eating apples, carrots, and potatoes with the peel still on (be sure to wash them first if you eat them raw).

• Savor stems. We also often toss out the stalky stems of vegetables like asparagus and broccoli, but that's where the plant's fiber is most densely concentrated. To make them less tough, chop the stalks into small pieces and cook them a bit longer, adding the florets slightly later.

• Use fibrous fixings. Products like bran cereal, oat bran, and wheat germ make good condiments when sprinkled over oatmeal (which is high in fiber itself), applesauce, cottage cheese, or salads. In recipes that call for bread crumbs, try substituting oats.