NutritionDoc

"it's what you have been missing" is the advertising tag line for Fibersure, a new fiber supplement from Procter & Gamble, maker of Metamucil. P&G's Fibersure promises to fill the fiber gap in your diet, so you can get the recommended 25 to 30 grams a day. Most Americans get about 10 to 15 grams.

Unlike most fiber supplements, Fibersure is not a bulk laxative. It is a natural soluble fiber called inulin found in several foods, notably chicory root. Fibersure comes as a fine white powder you add to foods or noncarbonated beverages. It dissolves completely without thickening, becoming gritty or altering a food's taste. One tablespoon of Fibersure provides 5 grams of fiber.

Adding Fibersure to foods you already eat is an easy way to increase fiber intake. Inulin is a prebiotic, providing nourishment to the good bacteria in your intestinal tract. Eating a prebiotic with a probiotic (a food with beneficial bacteria) like yogurt helps boost those bacteria in your intestine and some research suggests, improves your health. Inulin also increases calcium absorption when eaten with high calcium foods.

                                                                 BUT

Fibersure provides fiber, but none of the phytonutrients you get from high fiber foods. And unlike many fiber supplements, inulin is not calorie free. For every 5 grams of fiber, it provides 25 calories.

                                                                 SO

Getting more fiber in your diet is what I am always preaching, but no supplement can provide all the health promoting phytonutrients found in high fiber foods like fruits, veggies, nuts, seeds and whole grains. So I suggest eating more high fiber foods as your primary goal. But if you simply do not eat enough high fiber foods to total 20 to 35 grams of fiber a day then Fibersure is worth a try.