What Is Natural Dietary Fiber?

Natural dietary fiber is dietary fiber naturally present in the food or extracted from natural foods and added to other foods to increase their fiber content. In the later case it is called functional fiber.

The aim of this article is to collect common fiber-related terms rather than make you anxious about which types of fiber you should include into your diet.

Some components of natural fiber, like mucilage, pectin and gum are soluble in water. When ingested, they absorb water and make stool bulky and can thus prevent both constipation and mild diarrhea. Chemically, they are complex carbohydrates and glycoproteins that can not be digested and have no calorie value. Normal colonic bacteria can partly break them down and yield substances beneficial for the cells that line the colonic wall. During bacterial breakdown (fermentation) some gas is usually produced.

Pectin and gum are also used in food production as thickening or gelling agents, stabilizers, or emulsifiers.

continue reading Natural Dietary Fiber Content

According to an article published in the British Medical Journal, an additive found in some brands of sugar-free gum may be causing excessive weight loss. Sorbitol is used as a sweetener to enhance the flavor of sugar-free gums, but it unfortunately acts as a laxative.

The discovery was prompted after two patients reported suffering from stomach pain and chronic diarrhea. Both patients were losing tremendous amounts of weight. After narrowing down what could be responsible, doctors finally hit on the fact that both patients chewed an inordinate amount of gum containing Sorbitol.

The first patient consumed approximately 18 to 20 grams of Sorbitol a day, or the equivalent of nearly 20 pieces of gum. The second patient, a man in his 40’s, consumed 30 grams of Sorbitol daily thanks to numerous pieces of gum and sweets containing the additive.

continue reading Sorbitol Blamed For Excessive Weight Loss