Improving the Health Benefits of Dietary Fiber

Hint: it’s all about stimulating probiotics…

To keep your intestinal tract healthy and your bowels regular it is important to eat at least 25 grams of fiber daily. There are two fiber types, insoluble and soluble, and neither is digested by enzymes produced in the human body.

Insoluble fiber, known as roughage, is mostly composed of cellulose and serves as a bulking agent in the intestinal tract. A bran muffin contains insoluble fiber. Soluble fiber, the real star of the fiber show, performs vital prebiotic functions in the intestinal tract – functions that stimulate health producing probiotic microorganisms.

Stimulated probiotics effectively colonize the intestinal tract’s many niches and maximize intestinal health, this assures predictable regularity. The message here is that soluble fiber, also known as prebiotic fiber, is the most important fiber type because it stimulates probiotics.

Nature's Curve Ball

The problem with eating foods rich in both types of fiber is the body can’t release the valuable soluble fiber from its entrapment within insoluble fiber. Yes, nature throws us a curve ball here: much of the soluble fiber is trapped inside indigestible roughage fiber.

The solution is to take an enzyme or enzyme-fiber supplement that contains high strength fiber digesting enzymes that are capable of releasing trapped soluble fiber in the diet. Specifically, the enzymes Cellulase, Hemicellulase, Pectinase and Xylanase are important. But, for them to work they must be present in more than trivial quantities, enzymes are measured in activity units and these units must be guaranteed in multiples of 1,000 units per serving to be of value.

A new product called TruFiber® contains the following enzyme composition per serving: Cellulase 2,000 CU (Cellulase Units), Hemicellulase 4,700 HCU (Hemicellulase Units), Pectinase 5,800 AJDU (Apple Juice Depectinizing Units), Xylanase 1,100 XU (Xylanase Units).

These enzymes are formulated with two sources of soluble fiber that provide an immediate source of nutrition for probiotics while giving the enzymes time to work on dietary fiber. Just taking TruFiber® alone will double the population of Bifidobacteria (probiotics that live in the colon); studies are presented on this website. If a person is deficient in probiotics and has symptoms such as bloating, gas, constipation, diarrhea, or intestinal discomfort, a medical strength probiotic supplement should be taken with TruFiber® -- the best companion probiotic to take is Theralac® (see www.theralac.com ).

The following table lists a variety of natural foods rich in both soluble and insoluble fiber that benefit from TruFiber’s powerful fiber-releasing enzyme action. Let TruFiber® maximize the prebiotic potential of these foods…

TABLE 1: FOODS – FIBER CONTENT*

* Reference: McGowan, M.P. et al, 50 Ways to Lower Your Cholesterol, McGraw Hill, 2002.

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