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How Much Fiber Is In A Banana, Apple, Broccoli + 7 More

The other day I saw an interview with Ryan Reynolds and Jake Gyllenhaal where they were answering the most Googled questions about themselves. Well, I thought...hey, we can do that for fiber foods! Yes, I was thinking about fiber instead of Jake & Ryan! I am that sort of dietitian nerd. So in this article, we’re going to look at the top 10 foods people Google to find out how much fiber is in them. To save you time, our research team has done all the analysis for you. And so in this article I’m going to reveal the exact fiber content of these top 10 Googled foods. Plus the best ways to get more of them into a high fiber diet. And let me tell you…the results will surprise you. Let’s go!

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Table of Contents

    1. How much fiber in a banana?

    So the number one food people are Googling is bananas! And in 1 medium banana, you can expect to find 3.07 grams of fiber.

    Which is not bad given how easy it is to incorporate bananas into your diet, especially via smoothies.

    And just before we move onto the next food, I want to mention 3 important things…

    1. Firstly, most fiber food charts you’ll find online make the big mistake of stating the fiber content as a percentage.  Or saying you get x grams of fiber per every 100 grams you eat. We figured this isn’t very useful for you.  After all, who is eating 100 grams of onions in a sitting?!  So to fix this, we’ll be letting you know how much fiber you get in an average serving size of each specific food.
    2. Secondly, most of the answers you’ll find on how much fiber is in popular foods differs greatly across the web. So to fix this, we are sourcing all our data exclusively from the world leading ESHA database. This research institution has been painstakingly collecting the most accurate food data since 1981.  And so we can actually trust the quality of the data we present to you.
    3. Thirdly, in terms of what food is considered to be low or high in fiber - well, there aren’t any official fiber standards. But here’s how we measure it:
      1. Low fiber = Any food that delivers less than 2 grams of fiber, per serve, would be low fiber.
      2. Medium fiber = Meanwhile any food delivering 2 to 3 grams, would be medium fiber.
      3. High fiber = And finally, anything giving us Over 3 grams of fiber per serve, would be considered a high fiber food.

    2. How much fiber in an apple?

    So the runner up for the most popular fiber food people are searching…is the delicious apple! And in 1 medium apple, you can find…wait for it…a whopping 4.37 grams of fiber. Now, that is impressive. Especially when we think about how easy apples are to include in our diet.

    You can add them to your breakfast, take them to work as a snack or even enjoy them as a healthy dessert in the evening.

    And just before we look at the next food, I want to play you a short clip from a previous video we did on how much fiber you should eat a day.

    So as you can see, we should be eating quite a lot of fiber every day

    Unfortunately, just 5% of the population is currently meeting these recommendations, with most of us eating only 50% of the recommended amount.

    So in order to hit those targets, we really need to look at adding in fiber-rich snacks like bananas and apples.

    For example, if you eat 1 banana and 1 apple every day, you’ve already enjoyed 7.44 grams of fiber. Meaning for women you’ve already consumed 30% of your daily fiber target, and for men around 20%. 

    3. How much fiber in broccoli?

    So the 3rd most searched food is unsurprisingly everyone’s most loved and hated vegetable…broccoli! For many of us, when we’re experiencing a bit of a traffic jam…well, you know where…we often reach for a few florets of the green stuff! But how much fiber is actually in a typical serving size of broccoli?

    Well, it turns out 1 cup of broccoli contains just 1.8 grams of fiber. Less than half the fiber you’d find in an apple! And hey, I know what most people would rather eat.

    This is a surprising result, I’m sure you’d agree. And it brings up an important point: if you want to increase your fiber intake, it pays to know how much fiber is actually in your favorite foods. That way you can focus on eating fiber-rich foods that help you hit your daily fiber intake easily.

    And to help you do this, we've created a free Top 100 Fiber Foods Checklist. And I think you’ll love it because…

    • It ranks all the foods from highest fiber content to lowest
    • Plus you can filter it by food group - for example, if you just want to look at the best high fiber fruits to add to your diet, you can
    • And it even shows you what an ideal serving size is for each food

    4. How much fiber in avocado?

    So the next most popular food people are Googling for fiber content, is avocado. And just before we look at the amount of fiber in it, I want to say that it was not easy for our research team to agree on a “typical serving size” for avocado.

    You see, being the guacamole-lovers that we are, we first thought 1 medium avocado was appropriate. But, when you look at the variety of ways people use avocados from salad topper to wrap filler, we concluded that 1/2 a medium avocado better represents the average serving size.

    So in half a medium avocado, you’ll enjoy…and I love this finding…a huge 4.62 grams of fiber! How amazing is that! Not only is avocado so versatile, but it is absolutely loaded with fiber.

    5. How much fiber in oatmeal?

    The next food people most want to know about is oatmeal. And we found in half a cup of uncooked oats, there is a fantastic 4.09 grams of fiber. And of course, that fiber content will hold the same when it is cooked.

    And funny thing, when the research team and I were discussing oatmeal, we realized there’s a great lesson it can teach us about getting more fiber in your diet: and that is to really focus on making your breakfast a fiber rich meal.

    And that’s because we think breakfast is the easiest place to get a lot of fiber, while eating delicious food. 

    6. How much fiber in an orange?

    Next up, what about oranges…are they packed with fiber?

    Well, we found that in 1 medium orange you will enjoy around 3.14 grams of fiber. Which is once again, a very respectable amount.

    Obviously, this is based on eating the whole orange, as opposed to juicing it.

    7. How much fiber in carrots?

    Now, let’s look at your 7th most searched food…carrots. And so it turns out in 1 cup of carrots, you’ll get 3.42 grams of fiber. Once again, really good fiber content. And even moreso, when we think about how easy carrots are to incorporate into our diet via salads or as sides to main meals, or even as a snack like a fiber crazed Bugs Bunny.

    8. How much fiber in spinach?

    So the next most Googled fiber food is spinach. And in 2 cups of fresh spinach, you will enjoy about 2.35 grams of fiber. So whether you’re using it in salads or even in smoothies, spinach is going to deliver some solid fiber.

    But what about if you cook it? Well, as you probably know, when you cook spinach it dramatically shrinks in size. Meaning you can eat a lot more of it, easily.

    So in 1 cup of cooked spinach, guess what the fiber content is 4.56 grams! How good is that. No wonder Popeye wasn’t going around eating raw spinach leaves but instead ate it cooked and straight out of the can!

    9. How much fiber in blueberries?

    So now, let’s look at blueberries. In 1 cup, you’ll get 3.55 grams of fiber. And given blueberries might just be the most delicious fruit on earth…as Violet in Willy Wonka found…this is probably the easiest serving of fiber you can enjoy.

    10. How much fiber in potatoes?

    And now we arrive at the last food…potatoes.

    So in 1 medium potato, with the skin on, you’ll get 4.3 grams of fiber. Which is not surprising, as I think we all associate potatoes with being high in fiber. And given how easy they are to add to your lunch or dinner, they make for a great source of fiber in the evening. 

    Fiber foods ranked from highest to lowest

    Now, just before we finish, we thought it would be helpful if we ranked all of these foods in order from highest fiber per serve to lowest.

    Food

    Serving Size

    Total Fiber

    Avocado

    ½ medium

    4.62 grams

    Spinach

    1 cup (cooked)

    4.56 grams

    Apple

    1 medium

    4.37 grams

    Potatoes

    1 medium (with skin)

    4.30 grams

    Oatmeal

    ½ cup (uncooked)

    4.09 grams

    Blueberries

    1 cup

    3.55 grams

    Carrots

    1 cup

    3.42 grams

    Orange

    1 medium

    3.14 grams

    Banana

    1 medium

    3.07 grams

    Spinach

    2 cups (fresh)

    2.35 grams

    Broccoli

    1 cup

    1.80 grams

    And I think this is really interesting as we can quickly see how great our top fiber foods like avocado and cooked spinach are, and then by contrast, how underwhelming some of the other foods are (I’m looking at you Mr Broccoli).

    Now, if you want to discover how much fiber is in all your other favorite foods, check out our free Top 100 Fiber Foods Checklist where you’ll finally be able to see at a glance, exactly which foods deliver the best bang for your fiber buck!

    Now we want to hear from you…

    What is your favorite high fiber food?

    Let everyone know by leaving a comment below.

    Evidence Based

    An evidence hierarchy is followed to ensure conclusions are formed off of the most up-to-date and well-designed studies available. We aim to reference studies conducted within the past five years when possible.

    • Systematic review or meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials
    • Randomized controlled trials
    • Controlled trials without randomization
    • Case-control (retrospective) and cohort (prospective) studies
    • A systematic review of descriptive, qualitative, or mixed-method studies
    • A single descriptive, qualitative, or mixed-method study
    • Studies without controls, case reports, and case series
    • Animal research
    • In vitro research

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