Nick NorwitzMD PhD, Oxford-Harvard | Metabolic Health Educator | “Stay Curious”

Two Fiber or Not to Fiber 💩

18 Jul 2024 · 1 min

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1:00

In this video, the speaker addresses common questions about dietary fiber, stating that while fiber is not strictly necessary, it can be beneficial for many people. He emphasizes the significant individual variability in how people respond to different types of fiber—most experience reduced inflammation, but some see increased inflammation—so a one‑size‑fits‑all approach is misguided. He critiques the dogmatic attitudes surrounding fiber. As a personal anecdote, he highlights his favorite high‑fiber source: a 95% dark chocolate Taza bar containing 16 g of fiber, which he tolerates well, contrasting it with glucomannan noodles that cause him digestive distress. He invites viewers to submit further questions and suggests he may produce a dedicated episode on fiber nuances.

Chapters

I've been getting a lot of questions about fiber, whether it's necessary, whether it's beneficial, differences between insoluble, soluble, different types of insoluble and soluble. What I'll say high level is no, fiber is not necessary, but it's beneficial for a lot of people. That said, there's a lot of heterogeneity, diversity in how people respond to fibers and different types. Most people will respond to fiber with having improvements in inflammation, but some people have increases in inflammation with fiber consumption. So it is individual. I don't like the dogmatism around it. And, um, as a final fun fact, my favorite source of fiber overall is actually dark chocolate. It can be really rich. This is a Taza bar. No, I'm not sponsored. I just really like the chocolate. It's 95% dark, pretty delicious. This tiny bar has 16 grams of fiber, which is pretty freaking crazy. And, uh, actually it doesn't cause my stomach too much issue, unlike certain other fibers. If I had glucomannan noodles, it would destroy me. So Anyway, let me know your questions about fiber. Maybe I'll do a whole episode on it and the nuances of fiber.