MANILA, Philippines – Do you count your carbs or calories meticulously?

If you’re serious about improving your diet, you should consider counting your fiber intake, too. (READ: Can more fiber make Filipinos healthier?)

Contrary to popular belief, fiber isn’t just a clean-up tool for our digestive system. It also helps our body absorb nutrients, vitamins, and minerals better. Increased fiber intake has also been linked with improved weight management and reduced risk for ailments like heart disease, obesity, and certain cancers. 

Do you want to know if you’re taking in enough fiber every day? Use our calculator to determine your daily intake. Then, compare it with the Recommended Energy and Nutrient Intake (RENI) levels* prescribed by the Department of Science and Technology’s Food and Nutrition Research Institute.

Here’s how to use the calculator:

1. Key in your age and press Enter on your keyboard to determine your recommended fiber intake.
2. Using the drop-down menus, select what you would typically eat for breakfast, lunch, merienda, and dinner. Tick “Skipped it” if you did not eat a meal.
3. Complete all the fields to view your result, as well as our recommendation. – Rappler.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Produced by Krista Garcia, Aina Licodine, and Louis Concepcion

*All fiber values are based from the ASEAN Food Composition Database prepared by the Institute of Nutrition, Mahidol University