Easy Ways to Get More Fiber: How to Incorporate FiberWise® From Melaleuca Into Your Routine

By Dr. Serena Goldstein, ND

You may think you consume a healthy amount of fiber in your meals each day, but it’s not likely. More than 90% of women and 97% of men don’t meet the recommended intakes for dietary fiber, according to the USDA’s Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2020–2025.

What accounts for this significant fiber consumption gap? Possible reasons include opting for the variety and convenience of fast food and consuming too few fruits, vegetables, and whole grains.

Fiber is important for achieving and maintaining a healthy body, but don’t feel guilty if you’re part of the huge majority that doesn’t get enough of it. You’d need to do a lot of planning and meal preparation to consume the ideal amount of fiber from your diet alone. Fortunately, FiberWise® from Melaleuca offers a convenient way to enhance your nutrition with seven natural fiber sources plus vitamins, antioxidants, soothing herbs, and probiotics.

Why Fiber Matters

Fiber helps support a healthy gut, aids in digestion, and promotes regular bowel movements. It can also contribute to balanced gut flora thanks to the ability to feed certain beneficial strains. The microbiome comprises about 4 pounds of gut bacteria. A notable portion of this helps metabolize estrogen (one of the sex hormones), so a healthy gut can also help balance the hormones.

Further, fiber helps satisfy hunger and reduce cravings. Studies have shown that it balances blood sugar, helping to reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes, high cholesterol, and heart disease. Researchers have also found that a high fiber intake can boost the mood via the Lactobacillus strain (L. casei), which improves the synthesis of serotonin, sometimes called the “happy hormone.”

Fiber is not a “one size fits all” nutrient. The two main types (those typically listed on a food label) are soluble and insoluble fiber.

• Soluble fiber dissolves in water, forms a gel-like substance, and helps slow digestion. Examples include oats, apples, avocados, and carrots.
• Insoluble fiber adds bulk and supports the movement of what’s digested through the digestive system. Cauliflower, nuts, beans, green beans, and potatoes are good sources.

General fiber recommendations are 24-30 grams for the average adult. Less than 10% of adults  get the recommended daily amount of fiber in their diets. Insufficient fiber intake can lead to inflammation; gut-related issues, such as constipation, diarrhea, bloating, diverticulitis, and hemorrhoids; weight gain; and colon cancer.

Fiber also plays a role in preventing heart disease because it helps remove LDL, aka “bad” cholesterol. Along with helping to remove waste from a person’s system, the proper amount of fiber lowers the risk of toxins recirculating and promoting any sort of inflammation or disease within the body. Fiber also reduces the load of toxins in the liver, which is responsible for over 500 functions.

What Makes FiberWise® Unique

Melaleuca’s large research and development team has created many innovative nutrition and supplement products as the company established itself in the health and wellness field. It offers many nutrition, supplement, and healthy snack products and blends beneficial nutrients into its fiber supplement. Research has found ingredients in FiberWise® — such as probiotics, prebiotics, vitamin C, ginger, licorice, and fructooligosaccharides — to be effective in supporting digestive health.

Soluble and insoluble fiber support healthy gut bacteria, in the form of probiotics and prebiotics. Probiotics, the most widely known, help support beneficial gut bacteria. Prebiotics serve as food for these bacteria.

FiberWise® also has vitamins A, C, and E, which are powerful antioxidants to help protect against and heal inflammation and even chronic conditions. Vitamins A and E are fat soluble, meaning they stay in fat cells for extended periods, while vitamin C is water soluble, so the body releases via urine what it doesn’t need. However, vitamin C and other water-soluble vitamins can be released quicker with stress, alcohol, and caffeine consumption. These vitamins are important for liver detoxification cycles, and they can support cellular health to help prevent various chronic diseases.

Melaleuca’s herbal additions further support gut function via ginger, which helps reduce intestinal gas and bloating and can help reduce nausea. Peppermint and licorice root can help balance the microbiome and soothe indigestion, and the latter is great for stress relief.

Including vitamins and herbs in FiberWise® provides a more well-rounded approach to gut health, supporting different functions of the gut and other parts of the body.

Simple Ways to Add FiberWise® to Your Routine

There are a number of ways to incorporate FiberWise® into your daily routine, such as mixing the drink powder into water, juice, protein shakes, and smoothies. You can also use FiberWise® All Purpose in baking and cooking — add it to cookie recipes, waffle recipes or mixes, and banana bread. For more digestive benefits, consume it as a supplement before meals.  Replacing snacks with FiberWise® bars can help you through the midday energy slump.

Common Fiber Myths Debunked

As with many natural supplements, there are some common myths about fiber, including:

• All fiber is the same – No, there are different types.
• Fiber is only for digestion – No, it can also benefit many other systems outside the gastrointestinal system.
• You can get enough fiber from food alone – While this is technically true, it requires a lot of diligence in meal planning. Many people would prefer taking a supplement to eating eight bananas or 5 cups of steamed broccoli a day.
• If the recommended amount of fiber is good, more is better – This is not necessarily true, as too much fiber can contribute to discomfort and unpleasant digestive problems as well as mineral deficiencies.

It’s best to take FiberWise® in the recommended dosage. You may want to speak with a knowledgeable healthcare professional before taking this supplement if you have experienced eating disorders, GI surgery, gastroparesis, or major gut inflammation.

Improve Your Daily Fiber Habit

Fortunately, there are many ways to include additional servings of fiber into your diet, along with choosing the most convenient type (snack bar or powder) to suit your lifestyle. FiberWise® has seven natural fiber ingredients to help support overall health and wellness, and you can explore it as a convenient and effective way to improve your diet and daily routine.

Bibliography

1) Quagliani, D., & Felt-Gunderson, P. (2016). Closing America’s Fiber Intake Gap: Communication Strategies From a Food and Fiber Summit. American journal of lifestyle medicine, 11(1), 80–85. https://doi.org/10.1177/1559827615588079

2) Berding, K., Carbia, C., & Cryan, J. F. (2021). Going with the grain: Fiber, cognition, and the microbiota-gut-brain-axis. Experimental biology and medicine (Maywood, N.J.), 246(7), 796–811. https://doi.org/10.1177/1535370221995785

3, 4) Mayo Clinic Staff. Retrieved March 7th, 2025. https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/nutrition-and-healthy-eating/in-depth/fiber/art-20043983

5) American Society of Nutrition Staff. (2021). Retrieved March 7th, 2025.

https://nutrition.org/most-americans-are-not-getting-enough-fiber-in-our-diets/

These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.