I Feel Full: the New Fiber Craze

Surprised at how even yogurt, cottage cheese, milk and even juices are boasting about their "high fiber" count these days?

The reason is inulin, a fine, white powdery substance extracted from chicory root or created synthetically. Food makers use inulin to replace fats, flours and sugars, slashing calories and carbohydrates in the process. And because our body doesn't produce enzymes to break it down, inulin is classified as dietary fiber, quickly boosting the fiber count to many otherwise non-fibered products. The problem for consumers is inulin doesn't fill you up or lower blood sugar levels and cholesterol like traditional fiber, though it is a "prebiotic" that nourishes the good bacteria in the digestive tract. Prebiotics aid digestion and the absorption of nutrients while promoting colon health.

And not only does this new source of fiber have none of the health benefits of traditional fiber, it als has the potential to make unhealthy foods more "virtuous." Add the term "fiber" to an otherwise "bad" food product, and inulin transform that sugar-saturated granola bar into a health food. Fiber One bars are as sweet as candy because they contain chocolate chips! The inulin makes up most of the bar's 9 grams of fiber, and the 140 calories in each bar include 4 grams of fat (½ cup of Fiber One cereal contains 14 grams of fiber). The U.S. Department of Agriculture guidelines recommend 25-35 grams of daily fiber intake, though some nutrition experts say it should be closer to 75 grams.

As with many breakthroughs in food processing, this one has multiple consequences and meanings. I recall when one bread maker in the 70s upped the fiber content of its products by adding wood pulp. Think about that the next time you're reading the paper or surfing your Blackberry on the toilet.

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