Question

is dietary soluble or insoluble? my homework has chart for insoluble fiber/ soluble but the nutrition facts label only shows dietary fiber 3 g so I am unsure which category to put it under.

Answer 1

First of all it is important to know that dietary fiber is nothing but a type of carbohydrate only with different digestive properties. There are two types of dietary fiber - Soluble dietary fiber and Insoluble diatary fiber. The soluble one absorbs water and make a thick gel like substance while the insoluble one does not dissolve in water and pass through the disgestive system as it is. Both have different benefits of their own.

As far as your concern, I would like to tell you that the dietary fiber 3 g on the nutrition facts label is most probably a combination of both soluble and insoluble fiber. So it can not be clarified whether it is soluble dietary fiber or insoluble diatary fiber. But there is one thig that you can do. You can categorise the food and then decide which type of dietary fiber would be in it in bigger quantity most probably. Food items that are made up of wheat bran, whole grains, cereals, seeds, and the skins of many fruits and vegetables are generally very high in insoluble fiber while foods made up of dried beans, oats, oat bran, rice bran, barley, citrus fruits, apples, strawberries, peas, and potatoes are very rich in soluble fiber. Check the ingredients of the food item and identify the type of dietary fiber in it.