Facts about Fiber
Dietary fibers are the indigestible portion of plant foods that move food through the digestive system, absorbing water.
The term fiber (or fibre) is used for a class of materials that consist of continuous filaments or are in discrete elongated pieces, similar to lengths of thread.
Soluble fibers undergo active, metabolic processing to yield end-products with broad, significant health effects.
Plant fibers may be derived from fiber crops (such as cotton), trees, straw, bamboo, and sugarcane.
Fibers are of great importance in the biology of both plants and animals, for holding tissues together.
Mineral fibers may be used in their naturally occurring form or slightly modified before use.
Dietary fibers are usually subdivided as “insoluble” and “soluble,” based on their solubility in water.
Some artificial fibers are prepared by modifying natural raw materials, others are produced by chemical synthetic methods.
The starting materials are often obtained from petrochemical sources rather than from natural fibers.
People eating the most fiber, 21 grams per day, had 12 percent less coronary heart disease (CHD) and 11 percent less cardiovascular disease (CVD) compared to those eating the least, five grams daily.
Chemically, dietary fiber consists of non-starch polysaccharides and several other plant components such as cellulose, lignin, waxes, chitins, pectins, beta-glucans, inulin, and oligosaccharides.
Traditional acrylic fiber is used more often as a synthetic replacement for wool.
Natural fibers include those derived from plant, animal, and mineral sources.
A study showed that of 100 coyotes collected in Maine, 22 had half or more wolf ancestry, and one was 89 percent wolf.
Fibers are of great importance in the biology of both plants and animals, for holding tissues together.