Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations attributes “Moderation in all things” to Terrence, an ancient Greek writer who’s better known for comedy than philosophy. Maybe that’s why I find using those words as dietary advice so laughable.

But chuckles and snickers aside, following a moderation-in-all-things eating plan is more than foolishly funny. It’s a lie.

Past studies have found even one sugar-sweetened beverage a day harms health. The FDA now prohibits food manufacturers from using trans fat.

Fortunately, there’s a dietary flip side to the moderation-in-all-things lie. You can’t eat too much of many healthy foods.

Especially those containing fiber.

Trust me. I know. I’ve tried.

I just finished an eight-week experiment where I ate no less than 120 grams of fiber a day (and more than 200 grams a day four times). What brought out the inner Morgan Spurlock in me was reading study upon study that found an inverse association between fiber and the “big four,” the worst chronic diseases.

Respiratory disease, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and cancer.

“Inverse association” is a tricky phrase that can be explained this way. If the results of those previously mentioned sugar-sweetened beverages studies had found the opposite - that consuming a single daily can of a sugar-sweetened beverage made it less likely to gain weight and drinking more even bettered the odds - the research would’ve revealed an inverse association between sugar-sweetened beverages and weight gain.

In other words, an inverse association results when more of one thing leads to less of another.

So instead of eating nothing but McDonald’s for a month as Spurlock did, I simply increased the already ample amount of fiber I consume to see what would happen.

For you to fully appreciate the results, you need to know a few things.

First, according to the Harvard School of Public Health, the typical American consumes 15 grams of fiber a day, which is less than half of what many men require. Second, I’m a vegetarian who works out about 15 hours each week, so I consume far more total calories as well as whole grains and vegetables than just about all others at my weight.

Even without consciously trying to increase my fiber intake, it was already about seven times more than the average.

To exceed that already-through-the-roof amount, I didn’t consume any more calories; I simply replaced vegetables and cereals containing moderate amounts of fiber with those chocked full.

Replacing 150 calories of baked potato with 150 calories of steamed broccoli, for example, added 13.5 grams of fiber to supper. Exchanging 180 calories of puffed wheat with 180 calories of Fiber One, for instance, added 33 grams of fiber to my standard after-supper snack.

Changes like these led to me eating an average of 187.8 grams of fiber in the final week of the eight-week experiment, more than 12 times the national average.

Yet not once during the eight weeks did I encounter any sort of intestinal discomfort; no cramping, bloating, or diarrhea ever occurred. Since fiber inhibits the digestion of fat and protein to some extent, I also lost nearly two pounds while eating as much as before.

My experiment should allay any fears you have about increasing your fiber intake, a measure you should strongly consider even if you feel you already get enough. As a result of all those aforementioned inverse associations, the old suggestion of ingesting 25 to 29 grams of fiber per day, has gone from ideal to “adequate.”

At least that’s the word used in the most thorough fiber study to date, a monster meta-analysis of more 243 previous studies, encompassing more than 4,500 people and spanning nearly 40 years.

Commissioned by the World Health Association and completed at the University of Otago in New Zealand, the meta-analysis reaffirmed that consuming 25 to 29 grams of fiber per day is indeed a good health move. Compared to those who eat little fiber, those doing so were 16 to 24 percent less likely to get any of the “big four.”

But here’s the real cause for my crazy experiment: The meta-analysis revealed that for every 8 additional grams of fiber per day, the likelihood of developing one of the “big four” dropped even more, up to 27 percent.

In short, setting your daily target for fiber at 50, 60, or even 70 grams should create no problems - as long as you make the increase gradual.

Doing so does even more than decrease you odds of getting the “big four.” It aids in weight management, helps healthy gut bacteria thrive, counteracts constipation, and makes you less likely to become depressed.

One final note: While older medical texts claim that malabsorption of calcium, magnesium, phosphorous, and iron could result from fiber overload, the meta-analysis for the most part dismisses that, while warning that eating an excessive amounts of whole grains may deplete the body of iron.