Passing through

Q. Could you please explain the difference between soluble and insoluble fiber?

JVW: Soluble fiber slows the digestion of food, giving the body time to absorb nutrients. It prolongs the time food stays in the stomach, helping sugar to be released and absorbed more slowly into your systems. Insoluble fiber passes through your body largely intact, increasing the speed at which food moves through the stomach and intestines.

Most of the foods people think of as high in fiber, such as whole wheat, bran products, and raw, leafy green vegetables, are actually high in insoluble fiber.

Soluble fiber foods are those more commonly thought of as starches, like oatmeal, barley, rice cereals, corn meal, and potatoes. But soluble fiber is also found in carrots, yams, sweet potatoes, turnips, beets, squash, pumpkins, mushrooms, chestnuts, avocados, bananas, oranges, applesauce, and mangos.

Most physicians believe that eating foods rich in soluble fiber helps prevent symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome and relieve them if they do occur. On the other hand, foods containing insoluble fiber seem to increase irritation in those with gastrointestinal problems.

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