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Fiber: Perhaps Not as Simple as You Thought

Since the early 1950's when the term was first coined, dietary fiber has been known as a type of carbohydrate from plant foods that is not digested or absorbed. They are talked about many times based on their two different types, soluble and insoluble. Soluble fiber touted for its blood cholesterol lowering benefits and ease to acquire from foods such as oats, beans, lentils, citrus fruits, and carrots. Insoluble fiber recommended for its benefits for the digestive system and healthy food sources such as bran, whole grain products, fruit, and vegetables.

Food manufacturers have begun adding fiber to foods that were previously fiber free. (Learn more about this "stealth fiber.") Foods such as yogurt, ice cream, or drinks with isolated fibers confuse the issue for many consumers. Since many of these isolated fibers can affect the gastrointestinal system and do not contain health protective benefits, it is important to know about new classifications of fiber and why these new additives are permitted.

In 2001, a Panel on the Definition of Dietary Fiber (an Institutes of Medicine panel) responded to an FDA request to formally define dietary fiber. The IOM referred to recommendations and work done by the AACC (American Association of Cereal Chemists) and developed definitions that were presented to the FDA. New definitions focus on diversity of non-digested carbohydrates in the food supply. They broaden the definition from just plants to include carbohydrates contributed by animal foods as well. They also open the door to manufactured fibers as well. So what does this mean to you when you are trying to monitor your fiber intake?

Posted 8/30/2010  6:07:59 AM By: Tanya Jolliffe : 54 comments

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One Step Closer: Don't Be a Dry Sponge

Marketing can be a wonderful thing. It can also cause people to venture away from the truth in favor of false promises. The goal in marketing is to present products, goods, or services in such a way as to be desirable. The marketing process is most effective when a well-defined user or buyer's attention has been adequately captured to the point that new concepts or propositions are enticing. This process is most valuable when doubt about the alternatives have been created as well.

The diet industry has harnessed the power of marketing as well as any Fortune 500 company. People with a great desire to lose weight are willing to throw out long held scientific truths for industry marketing spin. Add to that the hope that desired results can be achieved quickly and easily and you have the fuel necessary to make the spin appealing. When results are not achieved with the first diet-focused product or service, apathy and disappointment pique curiosity in the next proposed option and the dieting cycle is born.

So what does this have to do with being like a sponge? Perhaps not what you think.

Posted 8/23/2010  6:40:23 AM By: Tanya Jolliffe : 69 comments

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