Australians are only eating half of the cereal fibre they need, research has found.

In the first study of its kind, University of Wollongong researchers put together a database of more than 1, 900 food containing cereal fibre, and then used the database to track how much cereal fibre study participants were consuming.

According to lead researcher, Eden Barett, only a few participants were eating enough cereal fibre as part of their regular diet.

“Adults had an average of 6.4g cereal fibre a day, which is equivalent of only two serves of higher fibre grain foods – just half of what many adults need,” she said.

Cereal fibre comes from foods such as breakfast cereals and bread. The Australian Dietary Guidelines suggest adults should have four to six serves of grain foods each day.

One serving is equivalent to one slice of bread, half a cup of cooked rice, pasta or oats and ¼ cup of muesli. Australians should be choosing the whole grain, high-fibre choices of these foods.

Despite the popularity of low-carbohydrate diets, the study found most people still eat grains, but they are still not eating enough cereal fibre.

“People who ate the least cereal fibre were getting what little they ate from white bread and crumbed or battered foods and dishes, which are low-fibre foods,” Barett said.

“What this tells us is that their diet is heavy on processed grain foods, which can have as little as a third of the cereal fibre of healthier whole grain foods,” she said.

The Dietitians Association of Australia suggest Australians make simple swaps to help boost their fibre intake such as choosing whole grain bread and pasta and brown rice over white, refined options.

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