Eating More Fiber
Aside from all the great ways to add fiber into your diet by eating a variety of whole foods, there are increasing ways to consume more fiber from packaged foods as well. As fiber and its health benefits continue to get much more consumer attention, manufacturers continue to petition the FDA to expand what qualifies for fiber and what can be added to their food labels.
FDA Definition of Fiber
Back in 2016, the FDA defined dietary fiber as one of two categories: naturally occurring fibers that are intrinsic and intact in plants and isolated/ synthetic carbohydrates that have physiological effects that are beneficial to human health.
The first category is easy to understand as naturally occurring fiber in grains, fruit, vegetables and legumes are abundant and simple to consume without much thought. The second however, may be fiber that’s extracted from a plant or a fiber that doesn’t occur naturally, but shows one of the following health benefits:
Lowers blood glucose
Lowers cholesterol levels
Lowers blood pressure
Increases frequency of bowel movements
Increases mineral absorption in the intestinal tract
Reduced energy intake due to satiation benefits
Approved Isolated/Synthetic Fiber
Since formally defining fiber, the FDA has approved the following as dietary fiber and listed them on food labels:
Beta-glucan
Psyllium husk
Cellulose
Guar gum
Pectin
Locust bean gum
Hydroxypropylmethylcellulose.
Mixed plant cell wall fibers (a broad category that includes fibers like sugar cane fiber and apple fiber, among many others)
Arabinoxylan
Alginate
Inulin
High amylose starch
Galactooligosaccharide
Polydextrose
Resistant maltodextrin/dextrin
Cross linked phosphorylated RS4
Glucomannan
Acacia (gum arabic)
Fiber From Whole Foods is Always Best
I am a strong proponent of getting fiber from whole foods when possible, but given the bio-individuality of nutrition this is not always an available option. Positive results from the use of psyllium husks, beta-glucans, inulin, guar gum and other isolated/synthetic fibers is promising. However, there is no clarity or labelling differentiation on what is an isolated fiber or a completely synthetic one. This leaves one to consider what is actually going into your body and encourages one to always go slow with consumption to see how your body reacts.
Hopefully this list will aid you in reading the ingredient labels on packages. As food labels become more complex, it’s always best practice to keep ingredients to a minimum and to know what the ingredients actually are before consuming any packaged product.
McRae M. P. (2018). Dietary Fiber Intake and Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: An Umbrella Review of Meta-analyses. Journal of chiropractic medicine, 17(1), 44–53. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcm.2017.11.002
Office of Nutrition and Food Labeling Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition Food and Drug Administration U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. 2016. Review of Isolated and Synthetic Non-Digestible Carbohydrates. fda.gov
FDA Issues Guidance, Science Review, and Citizen Petition Responses on Dietary Fiber. 2018, fda.gov
Justin L Carlson, Jennifer M Erickson, Beate B Lloyd, Joanne L Slavin, Health Effects and Sources of Prebiotic Dietary Fiber, Current Developments in Nutrition, Volume 2, Issue 3, March 2018, nzy005, https://doi.org/10.1093/cdn/nzy005Avis Ed. (2020).
https://www.fiberfacts.org/news-research-summaries/
