People assigned female at birth should eat 25 grams of dietary fiber every day. People assigned male at birth should eat 38 grams.

Forget stringy and forget meats. Fiber comes from plants. It's found in most foods with complex carbohydrates. This includes many fruits and vegetables. It also includes nuts, seeds, legumes, and whole-grain cereals and breads.

You need both. And luckily, many high-fiber foods have both. Insoluble fiber does not dissolve in water. It is found in cereals, whole-grain foods, and some vegetables. It helps push food through your digestive tract and keeps it healthy. Soluble fiber forms a gel when mixed with water. It is found in oats, peas, beans, certain fruits, and psyllium (a grain). It can lower blood cholesterol levels.

Don't be fooled by iceberg lettuce just because it's crunchy. It has less than 1 gram of fiber. The tomato sauce has 2.6 grams, a surprising amount. The pumpkin seeds contain a whopping 10 grams of fiber.

Add high-fiber foods to your diet slowly. Adding too much right away can cause bloating, gas, discomfort, or more severe problems. And if you are adding a lot of bran and other fibers, be sure to drink plenty of fluids. If you don't, the bran can absorb most of the water in your intestines. This can cause a blockage.

Women should have 25 grams a day. Men should have 38 gram a day. After age 50, women should have 21 grams of fiber each day and men 30 grams.

Soluble fiber helps lower cholesterol. But to make the most of the fiber in your diet, your meal plan should also be low in saturated fat, trans fat, and cholesterol.

Beans are fiber-rich, even better than peas (2.4 grams per half cup) and carrots (2 grams per half cup cooked). In half-cup portions, here is a rundown of the amount of fiber in different types of beans:

• Kidney: 6.9 grams
• Navy: 6.5 grams
• Pinto: 5.9 grams
• Lentils: 5.2 grams
• Lima: 4.3 grams
• Split peas: 3.1 grams