ARE THERE DIFFERENT TYPES OF FIBER?

There's a debate about whether the different types of fiber matter.

• Soluble fiber, the kind found in oats, fruits, beans and psylllum (which is used in lots of fiber pills and products), forms a gel (jello-like) with fluid. That gel slows stomach emptying, and in doing so, helps to regulate sugar and insulin levels and lower cholesterol levels.

• Insoluble fiber, in vegetables and other whole grains, pretty much remain the same passing through the intestine, providing much of the intestinal bulk.

Both seem to have a positive effect on the bacteria in the intestine (the microbiome).