- If you've been diving into the world of fiber recently
and trying to figure out what is best
for your gut and overall health,
you've probably been wondering what is the difference
between the two types of fiber you keep hearing about,
soluble versus insoluble fiber,
and just as importantly,
which one helps with bowel movements,
which one helps support the good bacteria
in your microbiome,
and which one helps lower cholesterol?
Well, in this video,
we're going to answer all of those questions,
plus we'll even look at which foods and supplements
contain these types of fibers.
Let's go.
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When you ask most health professionals
what the difference between soluble and insoluble fiber,
they usually try to keep it really simple.
They mainly talk about how the fiber acts in water
and how it helps you poop.
In fact, here's a quick clip of a nurse
explaining the difference between soluble
and insoluble fiber to a puppet.
- There's two types of fiber.
- Okay.
- Okay, there's soluble fiber and that absorbs water,
which allows your body to absorb nutrients,
which is very important.
- Okay.
- And another one is insoluble fiber.
Insoluble fiber does not absorb water.
- Oh.
- But it allows our digestive system to speed up
and it prevents things like constipation.
- Oh, oh, oh. Yeah, yeah.
- Now, we don't mind that answer for a kid's show.
In fact, kudos to "The Friday Zone"
for discussing such an important topic to younger viewers,
but for you Essential Stacks fans who want to know
how the different types of fiber can improve your health,
it just won't do.
Instead, we need a more detailed understanding
of how these fibers work in our bodies,
so to really understand this
being the difference between soluble and insoluble fiber,
the first thing you need to know is that there are actually
three different types of soluble fiber
and two different types of insoluble fiber.
You can see the different types on the screen now.
Apart from how they dissolve in water,
soluble and insoluble fibers also differ
in terms of viscosity and fermentability,
which I'll quickly explain now.
If a fiber is viscous, it means that it can thicken
and form a gel inside your GI tract,
and if a fiber is fermentable,
it just means that it can be fermented,
or in other words, eaten by the bacteria in your gut.
These differences are important because it means
these fibers can help you achieve different health goals,
which we'll talk about later in this video, but guess what?
If that didn't make a whole lot of sense to you,
don't worry, because all you really need to know for now
is that there are five types.
They're all somewhat different and they each deliver
a unique mix of benefits,
and just before we look at those benefits,
let me show you some examples of real food and supplements
that contain these types of soluble and insoluble fibers,
as hopefully that will make it easier
for you to picture them.
First of all, soluble fibers.
Example of them would be inulin,
which you can find in foods like chicory root,
as well as vegetables like asparagus, onion,
and of course, delicious garlic.
Another example would be partially hydrolyzed guar gum,
which you can find in fiber supplements
like our very own Friendly Prebiotics.
Another example of soluble fiber would be beta glucans,
which you can get in wheat-based products
like this loaf of bread.
Perhaps one of my favorite examples
would be the soluble fiber pectin,
which you can find in all sorts of fruits,
including this apple,
and of course, another great example
and probably the most well-known soluble fiber
is psyllium husk, and you can, of course,
find this in supplements like Metamucil.
If we take a quick look at the table now,
you can see which type of soluble fiber
each of these examples fits in.
Now let's quickly look at examples of insoluble fibers.
Cellulose is one of the best examples,
and you'll find this insoluble fiber
in everything from legumes, to fruits, to vegetables,
including this broccoli.
Another example of insoluble fiber
would be resistant starch,
which has become quite trendy over the last couple of years.
You'll find this in cooked and cooled potatoes,
like the kind you might eat in a potato salad,
as well as in fruits like green bananas.
If we bring the table back up,
you'll see which type of insoluble fibers these belong to.
It's important to point out that most foods will contain
a mix of soluble and insoluble fibers,
and if you wanna learn about that,
check out the video in the description below.
Now you have an idea of the types of foods and supplements
that are packed with the various types
of soluble and insoluble fiber,
it's time to answer the big questions.
What benefits do these different types of fiber deliver?
Given bowel movements are probably the number one reason
people try to get more fiber into their diet,
let's take a look at which soluble
and insoluble fibers work best here.
As you can see, they all help with bowel movements.
Obviously, insoluble fibers, such as cellulose,
will help the most directly as they stimulate gut motility,
meaning movement through your GI tract,
as well as adding bulk to your stool,
meaning they make it bigger,
but the other fibers play an equally important role
in making bowel movements pleasant.
For example, soluble fibers like PHGG
can help attract more water into your stool,
allowing it to soften,
and when your stool has more moisture,
it will move along smoothly and with less discomfort.
Hopefully you can now see there is no one fiber
doing all of the work here.
Instead, they really work like a team
to promote healthy bowel movements.
Now, the next big question,
which of these fibers help most
with supporting the good bacteria in our gut?
In other words, which ones are fermentable
by the bacteria in your gut?
And just before we look at the results,
it's interesting to see online,
most people, including reputable health websites,
seem to suggest only soluble fiber can help,
but are they right?
Let's take a look at what our research team found
by actually diving into the studies.
This is interesting.
As you can see, two of the soluble fibers do help,
but one doesn't.
Meanwhile, one of the insoluble fiber types
actually does the work for feeding
and nourishing the good bacteria in your gut,
also known as probiotics.
We were kinda shocked to see
few people discussing this online.
Either way, once again,
what we're seeing here are the benefits
of consuming both soluble and insoluble fiber.
During our research, we found a fascinating stat
that I quickly wanna share with you.
It turns out 70% of the fiber we consume
can be eaten or fermented by the bacteria in our gut,
which means almost all fiber is fermentable,
and for these fibers that selectively feed the probiotics,
we actually call them prebiotics,
or prebiotic fiber, if you prefer,
a term you've probably heard before.
Obviously these types of fiber
are crucial for our gut health,
as well as our overall health,
and that's mainly because they help the good bacteria
in our microbiome to grow stronger,
as well as help our bodies produce
beneficial fatty acids like butyrate,
and if you want to geek out with us
and find out why all of this matters for your health,
check out our video on the benefits of probiotics,
link in the description below.
Finally, which fibers help most with cholesterol?
As we can see, most of the fibers help in some manner,
but it is our two soluble fibers there
that are helping the most in a direct way.
If we look at the research,
we can see that this is due to their viscosity,
and just to recap, viscous just means
that the fiber can thicken and form a gel
when ingested in your body,
and this gel works to move cholesterol along
and reduce absorption.
Interestingly, two types of fibers,
being beta glucan and psyllium,
do this so well that the FDA has actually approved
manufacturers of these products to make the claim that they,
quote, lower cholesterol, unquote.
Now you know the difference between soluble
and insoluble fiber.
I'm sure you're interested in getting more
of both of these fibers into your diet,
so the big question becomes,
which foods pack the most fiber content?
Well, to make all of this super easy,
check out our free 100 fiber foods checklist,
where you'll finally be able to see at a glance
exactly which foods deliver the most fiber,
including how much is soluble versus insoluble.
Now we wanna hear from you.
What benefits have you found from eating fiber?
Let everyone know by leaving a comment below.
If you enjoy this video as part of our fiber food series,
then hit the Like and Subscribe button
to make sure you never miss another video.
(bell ringing) Our team of dietitians
and doctors are so excited to continue researching
which foods and supplements help your gut health
and which don't really work.
That way, you can save hundreds of hours of trial and error
and focus on what's best for your digestive health.
Thanks for watching and see you in the comments.
Bye for now.
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