HOW DO YOU ADD DIETARY FIBER CHEAPLY?

For the most part it’s indigestible, but it is also essential for health: Dietary fiber assists the stomach and intestines in digesting the food we eat, supports beneficial microorganisms in the digestive tract, and helps the body get rid of toxic substances. This type of carbohydrate has an excellent reputation—a fact not lost on the food industry, which affixes the label “good source of dietary fiber” to numerous low-quality food products. But the label does nothing to make the product in question necessarily healthy. Instead of the wide range of dietary fibers naturally found in nuts, grains, fruits, and vegetables, food is simply “enhanced” with a single substance such as inulin or polydextrose that doesn’t even have to be identified as a food additive. Often enough the fiber is derived from natural or synthetic polysaccharides that lend extra body to the food product. This is no substitute, however, for the natural sources of dietary fiber such as fruits, vegetables, and grains, which supply vitamins and minerals too.