Why Is It So Hard to Eat Enough Fibre?

Most of us know fibre matters, yet more than 80% of Australians still fall short of the recommended target. It is not because people do not care. It is because getting enough fibre every day is genuinely hard: busy routines, food cost, cooking time, gut sensitivity, and dietary restrictions all get in the way. The honest answer is not "try harder," it is to make fibre easier to fit into real life.

How much fibre do Australians actually get?

We hear it constantly: eat more vegetables, choose whole grains, add legumes, look after your gut. In Australia, the recommended daily fibre intake is around 30 g/day for men and 25 g/day for women.¹ Yet when Fayet-Moore and colleagues analysed national Australian dietary data, only 28.2% of adults met the Adequate Intake, and just 18.2% met the higher Suggested Dietary Target, meaning more than 80% were not reaching the level linked with reduced chronic-disease risk.² In simple terms, for many Australians, eating enough fibre is not the norm. And honestly, that makes sense, because it sounds simple on paper, but in real life it can be surprisingly hard.

Why is eating enough fibre so hard?

A healthy high-fibre diet usually means vegetables, fruit, legumes, nuts, seeds, and whole grains. That is great advice, but people are busy, food is expensive, and cooking takes time. Some people do not tolerate certain fibre-rich foods, some are managing gut symptoms, and some have allergies, coeliac disease, gluten sensitivity, or other dietary restrictions. A scoping review of healthy-eating barriers found the common culprits include the low cost of unhealthy food, lack of time to plan and cook, limited food skills, low motivation, and the sheer availability of unhealthy options.³ So when people do not eat enough fibre, it is usually not because they do not care, it is because real life does not make it easy.

Why is fibre even harder on a gluten-free diet?

For people who are gluten-sensitive or living with coeliac disease, it can be harder still. Many common fibre-rich foods: wholegrain bread, wheat bran, high-fibre cereals, are wheat-based, and off the menu. A 2023 review notes that both gluten-free and gluten-restricted diets can increase the risk of nutritional imbalance, and that gluten-free diets are often lower in fibre and complex carbohydrates and higher in simple carbohydrates and fat, partly because of the refined flours and starches used in many gluten-free products.^4,5 Going gluten-free does not automatically mean eating healthier, for people who genuinely need to avoid gluten, it can make fibre harder, not easier.

When "healthy" food does not feel good in your body

There is another barrier: tolerance. Some high-fibre foods cause bloating, gas, or discomfort, especially when fibre intake increases too quickly or when someone has a sensitive gut. That creates a frustrating loop — you try to eat more fibre, your gut feels uncomfortable, you back off, and your intake stays low. This is why the type of fibre, the dose, the format, and the daily routine all matter. Fibre is not just about "more"; it is about a form you can actually use consistently. We dig into this in our post on increasing fibre without bloating.

Why is this personal for us?

PuriFibre did not start on a whiteboard, it started from a real problem. Our co-founder, Dr Alexis Chung, lives with coeliac disease herself. Even with a nutrition degree and postgraduate training, she knew how hard it can be to fit enough fibre into daily life when many common high-fibre foods are not suitable, and when you are already managing work, stress, and meals around foods you need to avoid. That is why PuriFibre became the product she wanted for herself: gentle, compact, gluten-free, and easy to drink every day. It was not made to replace a healthy diet, it was made to help close the gap between what we know we should do and what real life actually allows.

What did real people tell us about fibre?

Working with CSIRO, Australia's national science agency, our founders personally ran over 100 customer interviews to understand what people actually needed.⁶ What we heard, again and again, was simple: people know fibre matters, they just do not always know how to get enough, and many existing options feel inconvenient, gritty, bulky, or unsuitable for their dietary needs. That shaped how we think about PuriFibre: not as a "perfect solution," but as a practical one designed to make daily fibre easier, gentler, and more realistic for everyday life.

Why does a liquid fibre shot make sense?

A liquid fibre shot is not the only way to increase fibre, but it removes some very real barriers: it is compact, easy to take, needs no meal planning, fits into a busy morning, and is gluten-free. For us, though, the most important part is that it has to feel good to use. Eating more fibre often feels like another rule, another chore, another "healthy habit" that feels more like punishment than care, and when you already manage dietary restrictions or a sensitive gut, adding one more unpleasant routine is exhausting.

So PuriFibre was designed to feel different: not gritty, not bulky, not another capsule, but a small daily reward that tastes good and feels more like self-care than another task on the survival checklist. Research shows fibre is linked with gut motility, metabolic health, the gut microbiota, short-chain fatty acid production, and cardiovascular and colonic health, but the same work notes that modern diets are often fibre-poor, and that improving intake likely takes more than education alone.⁷ The best fibre is not the one that looks good in a paper; it is the one people can actually keep taking.

The takeaway

If most people are not getting enough fibre, the answer is not to blame them. It is to build better options. Options that fit real life, support dietary restrictions, are gentle enough to repeat, and are made by people who understand the problem personally. Fibre should feel realistic, not perfect or overwhelming. Just one small daily habit that makes getting enough a little easier. That is exactly why we created PuriFibre: an effective, science-backed functional food for people who know fibre matters but need an easier way to make it part of every day.

Important note

This article is general information, not medical advice. If you have coeliac disease, a diagnosed health condition, or ongoing gut symptoms, check with a healthcare professional or dietitian before making significant dietary changes, and to make sure your diet stays nutritionally adequate.

References

1. National Health and Medical Research Council; Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care. Nutrient Reference Values for Australia and New Zealand: Dietary Fibre. https://www.eatforhealth.gov.au/nutrient-reference-values/nutrients/dietary-fibre
2. Fayet-Moore, F.; Cassettari, T.; Tuck, K.; McConnell, A.; Petocz, P. Dietary Fibre Intake in Australia. Paper I: Associations with Demographic, Socio-Economic, and Anthropometric Factors. Nutrients 2018, 10 (5), 599. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu10050599
3. Munt, A. E.; Partridge, S. R.; Allman-Farinelli, M. The Barriers and Enablers of Healthy Eating among Young Adults: A Missing Piece of the Obesity Puzzle: A Scoping Review. Obes. Rev. 2017, 18, 1–17. https://doi.org/10.1111/obr.12472
4. Abdi, F.; Zuberi, S.; Blom, J.-J.; Armstrong, D.; Pinto-Sanchez, M. I. Nutritional Considerations in Celiac Disease and Non-Celiac Gluten/Wheat Sensitivity. Nutrients 2023, 15, 1475. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu15061475
5. Hosseini, S. M.; Soltanizadeh, N.; Mirmoghtadaee, P.; Banavand, P.; Mirmoghtadaie, L.; Shojaee-Aliabadi, S. Gluten-Free Products in Celiac Disease: Nutritional and Technological Challenges and Solutions. J. Res. Med. Sci. 2018, 23, 109. https://doi.org/10.4103/jrms.JRMS_666_18
6. Balchand, J. From PhDs to Market-Ready Solutions: How Organic Ocean Is Redefining Seaweed for Health. Startup News, May 28, 2025. https://startupnews.com.au/interview/from-phds-to-market-ready-solutions-how-organic-ocean-is-redefining-seaweed-for-health/
7. Barber, T. M.; Kabisch, S.; Pfeiffer, A. F. H.; Weickert, M. O. The Health Benefits of Dietary Fibre. Nutrients 2020, 12, 3209. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu12103209