Mayo Clinic Health Manager

Get free personalized health guidance for you and your family.

Free

E-Newsletter

Subscribe to receive the latest updates on health topics. About our newsletters

• Housecall
• Alzheimer's caregiving
• Living with cancer

• October 28, 2009 5:03 p.m.

  Where are you getting your info? All of what I'm reading is that these "isolated" fibers do not provide the same health benefits as "intact" fibers. Can you point me to a scientific study that PROVES their health benefits?

  - Katie

• August 2, 2009 5:41 p.m.

  As someone who has lost 40 pounds on Weight Watchers in 6 months, I love the extra fiber added to Fiber One bars and other tasty WW snacks. WW points are based on calories, with fat raising points and fiber lowering points. However, I do not depends on prepackaged, inulin-fortified foods to lose weight. It's great when I want something yummy but that isn't all that bad for you (Fiber One bars are only 2 points!). Some people do depend on them, but I love to eat (hence I am on WW) and have totally changed what kinds of foods I buy and keep around the house so I can eat more in a day. Getting nutrients as they occur naturally is great, but sometimes when it comes down to it, it can be beneficial and/ the lesser of the evils.

  - Shelby

• July 13, 2009 3:22 a.m.

  A lot of people (me included) get major gas from chicory root. I've been vegetarian and almost vegan (am allergic to eggs and dairy) for decades and am used to a lot more fiber than typical carnivores, and also routinely take acidophilus-type supplements. So even if eating a lot of beans, I don't usually get much gas, my body knows how to deal with it. But chicory root is just too much for some reason. They're putting it in my favorite multigrain bread now to get the fiber up to some insanely high value, so I head toward the 100% whole wheat instead (hopefully they won't mess with that, it's "low fiber" in comparison now). Some wonderful vegan "ice cream", Purely Decadent (yes, it lives up to its name), has 5 grams of fiber in 1/4 pint because of the chicory. If I pig out on that (too, too easy to do), I'll get horribly persistent and painful trapped gas for days that only slowly breaks up with a lot of help from activated charcoal capsules... I was just reading elsewhere reports by people having gas problems with the Fiber One bars, which though tasty list chicory as the first ingredient. So be cautious! Probably best to introduce chicory-containing food slowly despite the attraction of quick high fiber. Of course, adding fiber to your diet should be done gradually anyway, but my experience (as someone already used to a lot of fiber) shows that chicory is something different than usual sources of fiber.

  - jwoolman

• July 11, 2009 10:38 a.m.

  Wow. pros and cons showing up here... I think it is risky to throw anything into our food that is not appropriate for the majority of the population. I think we should add fiber to our diet ourselves if we want it added, not in food that is mass produced. All things in moderation...and you can get too much fiber as well. I think there is a risk that someone may end up eating too much of this type of food and be hospitalized for dehydration caused from diarrhea. A child may be especially at risk. Of course we do not have to purchase these items. We do always have a choice. If these items do not sell well, the maker will stop selling them. Remember....An apple a day helps keep the doctor away!!!

  - Teri

• June 19, 2009 2:25 p.m.

  I think the biggest issue here is that it is being added to foods that are otherwise clearly very unhealthy, and those foods can then tout a health claim. Take Fiber One bars for example. Note the ingredient list. To me it reads: Fiber, chocolate, chocolate, sugar, sugar, chocolate, chocolate, sugar ... some possibly healthy but mostly odd ingredients .. five more references to sugar. Chicory Root Extract , Chocolate Chips with Confectioner Shellac , Chocolate Chips , Sugar , Chocolate Liquor , Cocoa Butter , Dextrose , Milk Fat , Soy Lecithin , Ethanol , Shellac , Hydrogenated Coconut Oil , Rolled Oats , Crisp Rice , Rice Flour , Sugar , Malt , Salt , Barley Flakes , High Maltose Corn Syrup , High Fructose Corn Syrup , Sugar , Canola Oil , Honey , Glycerin , Maltodextrin , Palm Kernel Oil , Tricalcium Phosphate , Soy Lecithin , Salt , Nonfat Milk , Peanut Oil , Cocoa Processed with Alkali , Natural Flavor , Baking Soda , Color Added , Almond Flour , Peanut Flour , Sunflower Meal , Wheat Flour , Mixed Tocopherols Added to Retain Freshness

  - Matt

• June 17, 2009 9:00 p.m.

  I didn't know what Inulin is and have wondered when I saw it listed on food labels. Thanks for this good info. I take medication that is binding, even though I eat lots of healthy fiber foods. I think I'll add more Inulin products (healthy, of course) to my diet to see if it helps with the constipation.

  - Chelea

• June 17, 2009 2:50 p.m.

  I could not agree more! What we all have to remember is that food companies are not about health - they are about selling their products. If a food company could make dog poop look and taste attractive & get their marketing people to create fancy jingles & commercials, there will be a percentage of the population that will buy it & eat it. And the more we are brain-washed, the more we will eat it. This inulin may not be the worst thing for us but fresh fruits & vegetables are still the best thing since sliced bread!

  - Janet

• June 16, 2009 3:57 p.m.

  Adding inulin to food to make it more healthy reminds me of how Tang* was once billed as a healthy drink because it had vitamin C added to it. Why not drink straight orange juice that hasn't had the vitamin c taken out of it? You will get a bunch of other nutrients (some of which we may not have discovered yet) as well? This goes for all processed foods with claims like "fiber added" or "antioxidant enriched" or whatever. I'm so sick of how people keep falling for these advertising claims. If these companies were truly concerned with health, they wouldn't have taken the health out of the food to begin with. *The only good reason to drink Tang instead of orange juice is that you are an astronaut and Tang is easier to pack on the spaceship. That is who Tang was originally developed for. The rest of us do not need not bother with it, and we should not be letting food manufacturers convince us otherwise.

  - Sonja

• June 14, 2009 12:45 a.m.

  I'm all in favor of manufacturers adding fiber into foods, even though I get a good percentage of my daily fiber requirements from my standard breakfast of Fiber One, banana and skim milk. Now if we could only get these manufacturers to eliminate things like excess salt and corn syrup from their products we'd really be in better shape.

  - Annice