Compiled by CookingLow-Fat.com

Here’s a good list of foods containing SOLUBLE fiber, counts are based per 100-gram serving (3 ½ ounces).

Grains
Barley, pearled - 2.8
Cornmeal, whole-grain - 9.0
Oat bran, uncooked – 7.2
Oatmeal, uncooked – 4.9 (1 serving of oatmeal is considered ½ c. of dry oats, equaling 40 grams.)
Rice, brown, dry - 0.7
Rice bran – 33.0

Fruits
Apple, raw – 0.6
Apple, fiber – 11.1
Prunes, dried – 4.6
Raisins – 1.7

Dried Beans and Peas
Beans, kidney, canned – 2.7
Beans, kidney, raw – 8.5
Beans, pinto, raw – 7.0
Lentils, raw - 3.8
Peas, black-eyed, raw - 11.0
Peas, chick, raw - 7.6
Peas, split, raw – 4.0

Keep in mind, we’re only talking about soluble fiber here. Andrew Weil, M.D., in Eating Well for Optimum Health, wrote, “The optimum diet should provide 40 grams of fiber a day. You can achieve this by increasing consumption of fruits (especially berries), vegetables (especially beans), and whole grains.” The complete content of fiber in the oatmeal we’ve been talking about is 3 g. for the instant, and 4 g. for the regular. (And don’t forget, both the regular oatmeal and the new Nutrition for Women have 5g. of protein per serving, which is great!)

One of the best guides I’ve seen for nutritional information is The Complete Book of Food Counts (available on our website), by Corinne T. Netzer. I flipped through my worn copy to find some foods high in total fiber and here are just a few of them…

Almonds, dried, 1oz. – 8.6 (167 cal.)
Apple, raw with peel – 3.0 (81 ca.)
Banana, 1 medium – 1.8 (105 cal.)
Broccoli, raw, 1 spear, 8.7 oz. – 4.2 (42 cal.)
Broccoli, boiled, 1 spear, 6.3 oz. – 4.7 (51 cal.)
Broccoli, boiled, chopped, 1/2 c. – 2.0 (22 cal.)
Lettuce, 1 leaf, iceberg - .2 (3 cal.)
Lima beans, ½ c. boiled and drained – 3.6 (104 cal.)
Prunes, ½ c. stewed w/pits, unsweetened – 7.0 (113 cal.)
Soy beans, ½ c. dried – 11.6 (387 cal.)

You could get more than half your daily intake of fiber with a pound of Pistachio nuts, it contains 24.5 g. of fiber, but you’d also have to take the 1,309 calories with it. Nuts are good for you, just try to eat them by the ounce and not the pound. If you’d like to learn more about food counts, you might want to invest in a copy of this Food Count book for yourself, it contains more listings than any other book, including brand names and fast food items!