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Is Soluble Fiber listed on the nutrition information?

As a general rule it's not. Keep in mind the listing of fiber, whether it be soluble, insoluble or fiber in general, on your nutritional food labels is voluntary. Only basic information (calories, fat, ingredients, etc) has been mandated to be included on the label.

The IBS diet claims that things such as rice and pasta are high in soluble fiber, but this is not consistent with the fiber count on the food packages?

Unfortunately, sales of food products to the general public is not contingent on the fiber content listed. That is why it is often omitted or loosely stated or often false. Please read this and the entire thread from about 2 years ago. When a product is listed as having NO fiber, say white rice, it is counting, yes, only INsoluble fiber, but in truth it is about 50% IF and 50% SF. Same with plain oatmeal. This is why SFS (which are ALL soluble) are so important- because it gives you the good soluble fiber base which is easier on the gut in general, and helps regulate motility for both C's and D's.


Do the products usually only list INsoluble fiber? Most times, yes. What's the deal? The "deal" is there is no money in it for food companies or food chemists to spend time on determining how much SF and how much IF is in a food. I assume it is much easier to determine how much IF a basic food has in it than soluble fiber because when the food with a high SF content is exposed to a liquid, it absorbs that liquid and it's chemical make up is changed. You have two things going on here with a soluble fiber food...it's ability to absorb moisture..and how it is broken down when it is cooked or cut -- the "smushable factor" if you will. Also, what is considered "high in soluble fiber". Like how many grams are we talking about? It depends. If you are talking about supplements that list grams, it will state it right on the label, pretty much with accuracy as far as I know. Their business depends on it. Because soluble fiber has had the reputation to lower cholesterol (and that's a big deal right now), products like plain oatmeal will boast being high in SF, but if you read the label you'll notice it has a considerable amount of both IF and SF.

I wouldn't get to excited about what many labels say..especially if you are shooting for high SF foods....You'll get better information right here on which foods are high in SF.

Hope this helps a little.

Kandee

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