Soluble Fiber Foods: List With Grams Per Serving

Soluble fiber is the kind of fiber that soaks up water and turns into a soft gel as it moves through your gut. The best everyday sources are beans (black, lima, navy and pinto), oats and barley, Brussels sprouts, pears, oranges, avocado and psyllium husk.

The chart below gives grams of soluble fiber per normal serving. Every number comes from a published table: the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (part of the NIH) or a Canadian dietitians' table. The sources are listed at the bottom of the page. This page is general information, not medical advice.

Most food databases, including the USDA data behind the Grove fiber library, only report total fiber. Soluble fiber is measured less often, and labs get different results for the same food. So treat these numbers as close estimates. Where two sources disagree, I show both as a range.

Soluble fiber foods chart

"NIH" is the NHLBI's cholesterol guide. "PEN" is the Dietitians of Canada table, as printed by Niagara Region dietitians. Beans and vegetables are cooked. Tap a linked food to see its total fiber in the fiber library.

Food	Serving	Soluble fiber (g)	Source
Passion fruit, purple	½ cup	6.5	PEN
Psyllium, ground	1 tbsp	2.4 to 5	NIH, PEN
Black beans	½ cup	3.6	PEN
Lima beans	½ cup	3.5	PEN
Brussels sprouts	½ cup	2 to 3	NIH, PEN
Navy beans	½ cup	2.2	PEN
Artichoke	1 globe	2.2	PEN
Pinto beans	½ cup	2.1	PEN
Avocado	½ fruit	2.1	PEN
Orange	1 medium	1.8 to 2	NIH, PEN
Pear, with skin	1 medium	1.1 to 2	NIH, PEN
Kidney beans	½ cup	1.7 to 2	PEN
Chia seeds	1 tbsp	1.4 to 2.1	PEN
Sweet potato, no skin	½ cup	1.8	PEN
Edamame	½ cup	1.5	PEN
Prunes	¼ cup	1.5	NIH
Flaxseed, ground	2 tbsp	1.2 to 1.6	PEN
Chickpeas	½ cup	1.4	PEN
Broccoli	½ cup	1 to 1.5	NIH, PEN
Carrots	½ cup	1 to 1.2	NIH, PEN
Oatmeal	½ cup cooked	about 1	NIH
Oat bran	½ cup cooked	about 1	NIH
Barley, pearl	½ cup cooked	0.8 to 1	NIH, PEN
Apple, with skin	1 medium	about 1	NIH, PEN
Banana	1 medium	0.7 to 1	NIH, PEN

The NIH table rounds to the nearest gram, so its numbers look tidier than they are. The PEN table gives one decimal place and sometimes a range.

How to read these numbers

Servings are small on purpose. Most rows are half a cup. A full cup of black beans has about twice the soluble fiber shown here.

Soluble fiber is only part of the total. Every food above also has insoluble fiber. Oatmeal is a good example. The NIH table lists half a cup cooked at about 1 gram of soluble fiber out of 2 grams total. To see a food's total fiber at every serving size, open it in the fiber library or add up a meal with the food fiber calculator.

High total fiber does not always mean high soluble fiber. Lentils are one of the highest total-fiber foods in our list of 50 high-fiber foods. But the PEN table puts their soluble share at about 0.5 grams per half cup. Black beans have about seven times as much.

The best soluble fiber foods by group

Beans and legumes

Beans lead the chart. Black beans and lima beans each have about 3.5 grams in half a cup. Navy, pinto and kidney beans have about 2. Canned beans count. Rinse them and add them to soups, chili, salads or tacos.

Oats and barley

Oats and barley are known for a soluble fiber called beta-glucan. Per serving they are not the top foods on the chart. Their value is that they are easy to eat every day. A bowl of oatmeal at breakfast and barley in a soup at dinner add up.

Fruits

Pears, oranges and avocado are the strongest common fruits. Eat the whole fruit. The NIH guide says a single orange has about 6 times more fiber than a 4-ounce glass of orange juice. Keep the skin on pears and apples too.

Vegetables

Brussels sprouts stand out, with 2 to 3 grams in half a cup. An artichoke has about 2 grams. Sweet potatoes, broccoli and carrots add 1 to 2 grams per half cup.

Seeds and psyllium

Psyllium is the most concentrated source here, and it is the main ingredient in many fiber powders. The two tables disagree on how much is in a tablespoon (2.4 or 5 grams), so check the label of the product you buy. A tablespoon of chia seeds or two tablespoons of ground flaxseed each add 1 to 2 grams.

What soluble fiber does

MedlinePlus, the NIH's health library, says soluble fiber attracts water and turns to gel during digestion, which slows digestion. It adds that research shows soluble fiber helps lower cholesterol, which may help prevent heart disease.

The NHLBI explains how. The gel helps block some cholesterol and fat from being absorbed into the bloodstream. Its guide says people who added 5 to 10 grams of soluble fiber a day saw their LDL ("bad") cholesterol drop by about 5%.

The FDA allows a heart health claim on some foods with soluble fiber from whole oats, barley or psyllium, when they are part of a diet low in saturated fat and cholesterol.

For IBS, the American College of Gastroenterology's 2021 guideline suggests soluble fiber rather than insoluble fiber. It names psyllium, oat bran, barley and beans as examples (Lacy et al., 2021). I wrote more about that in tracking fiber with IBS or constipation.

If you have a health condition or take medicine, talk to your doctor before making big changes to your diet.

How much soluble fiber do you need per day?

The main US daily targets are for total fiber: about 25 grams for women and 38 grams for men under 51. There is more on that in how much fiber per day, and the fiber calculator works out your own number.

For soluble fiber, the clearest numbers come from heart health sources:

• NHLBI: its cholesterol-lowering plan suggests 10 to 25 grams of soluble fiber a day. It calls 5 to 10 grams more a day the minimum.
• FDA: for its heart health claim, the FDA links 3 grams or more a day of beta-glucan from whole oats or barley, or 7 grams or more a day of soluble fiber from psyllium husk, to lower heart disease risk.

Those numbers are for lowering cholesterol. They are not a daily target set for everyone.

Easy ways to eat more soluble fiber

Here is one day built from the chart:

• Breakfast: half a cup of cooked oatmeal (about 1 gram) with a pear on the side (1 to 2 grams).
• Lunch: half a cup of black beans in a salad or burrito bowl (3.6 grams).
• Dinner: half a cup of Brussels sprouts (2 to 3 grams).

That comes to roughly 8 to 10 grams of soluble fiber. Swap in a full cup of beans and you add about 3.5 grams more.

More ideas:

• Stir chia seeds or ground flaxseed into yogurt or a smoothie.
• Add barley to soup instead of rice.
• Eat an orange instead of drinking orange juice.
• Put half an avocado on toast or in a salad.

Go slow. The NHLBI warns that a sudden jump in fiber can cause cramps, gas or bloating. Add a little more each week and drink more water.

Soluble vs insoluble fiber, in short

Soluble fiber dissolves in water and forms a gel. Insoluble fiber does not dissolve. It adds bulk and helps food move through your gut. Most plant foods have both kinds. There is a longer comparison in the soluble vs insoluble section of how much fiber per day.

Tracking your fiber

I build Grove, a fiber tracker for iPhone. Grove counts total fiber. It does not split out soluble fiber, because the USDA data it uses does not report that for most foods. What it can show you is whether beans, oats and fruit are turning up in your day, and how close you are to your total fiber goal.

Frequently asked questions

Which foods are highest in soluble fiber?

Beans are the top everyday source. Black beans and lima beans have about 3.5 grams of soluble fiber per half cup cooked. Psyllium husk, Brussels sprouts, avocado, pears, oranges, oats and barley are also good sources.

Is oatmeal high in soluble fiber?

Oatmeal is a good source. The NHLBI lists half a cup of cooked oatmeal at about 1 gram of soluble fiber out of 2 grams total. Oats are easy to eat every day, which is why they come up so often.

Is avocado high in soluble fiber?

Yes. The Dietitians of Canada table puts half an avocado at about 2.1 grams of soluble fiber. That is the same as half a cup of cooked pinto beans.

How much soluble fiber should I eat a day?

US guidelines set a daily target for total fiber, about 25 grams for women and 38 grams for men under 51. For lowering cholesterol, the NHLBI suggests 10 to 25 grams of soluble fiber a day. Ask your doctor what makes sense for you.

Are lentils high in soluble fiber?

Lentils are very high in total fiber. But the Dietitians of Canada table lists only about 0.5 grams of soluble fiber per half cup cooked. Black beans, lima beans and navy beans have much more.

Does Grove track soluble fiber?

No. Grove tracks total fiber from USDA data, which does not list soluble fiber for most foods. You can still use this chart to choose foods, then log them in Grove to see your total.

Sources

• National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. Your Guide to Lowering Your Cholesterol with TLC, February 2024. Box 8, "Fiber Really Counts", and the soluble fiber section.
• Niagara Region Dietitians, Heart Healthy Committee. Facts on Soluble Fibre, revised 2017. Data from Dietitians of Canada, Practice-based Evidence in Nutrition (PEN), 2012.
• MedlinePlus. Soluble vs. insoluble fiber. US National Library of Medicine.
• US Food and Drug Administration. 21 CFR 101.81: Health claims, soluble fiber from certain foods and risk of coronary heart disease.
• Lacy BE et al. ACG Clinical Guideline: Management of Irritable Bowel Syndrome. American Journal of Gastroenterology, 2021.