I Increased My Fiber Intake & Ditched Afternoon Cravings With This Tasty Drink

Reported by MindBodyGreen.

Fiber has had its moment — and honestly, it's about time. While protein has dominated the wellness conversation for years, the nutrient most of us are actually deficient in is far less glamorous. Roughly 95% of adults fall short of the recommended 25 to 38 grams of fiber per day, according to MindBodyGreen — a gap that shows up as afternoon sugar cravings, sluggish digestion, and that vague, can't-quite-name-it heaviness in your gut.

Health editor Ailsa Cowell, who holds a master's degree in human nutrition, found herself in that same position despite an otherwise balanced diet. Her lunches checked every macro box — protein, complex carbs, vegetables — yet the 3 p.m. chocolate pull was relentless. Within days of adding a soluble fiber supplement (specifically, mindbodygreen's debloat+, delivering 9 grams of Fibersol®-2 per stick pack mixed into water), those automatic sweet cravings started to quiet. Part of it, she notes, was behavioral: a fruity, watermelon-flavored drink gave her the sensory hit of something sweet without the spiral. But the mechanism runs deeper — Fibersol®-2 is a clinically researched prebiotic fiber shown to support the body's own GLP-1 production, the satiety hormone that signals fullness and satisfaction after meals.

The gut piece most high-protein diets miss

Cowell had recently prioritized hitting 100-plus grams of protein daily — a goal that paid off in muscle and energy, but quietly wrecked her digestion. The irregularity, the bloat, the general internal sluggishness: familiar territory for anyone who's leaned hard into meat and supplements without balancing with enough fiber-rich plant foods. After about a week on the fiber supplement, the heaviness lifted. She credits the formula's two probiotic strains — Bacillus coagulans (SNZ 1969®) and Bacillus subtilis (WelBac 40™) — which are clinically shown to survive the digestive tract (unlike many probiotic strains that don't make it that far), while actively reducing gas, easing bloating, and supporting regularity.

The bigger takeaway here isn't about one specific product — it's about what we keep skipping while chasing the next optimized thing. Fiber is foundational. It keeps you fuller longer, feeds your microbiome, moderates blood sugar swings, and apparently stands between you and your fourth trip to the pantry before dinner. The fact that a nutrition professional with a graduate degree was still undershooting her daily intake says everything about how normalized that gap has become.

If your afternoons feel like a cravings obstacle course and your digestion has been quietly off, this might be the unsexy, totally unglamorous fix you've been overlooking.

Read the original at MindBodyGreen.