Nutrition and Dietary Considerations Practice Test

Fiber is a non-digestible part of plant foods that supports digestion and heart health when eaten in adequate amounts. For most adults, aiming for about 25 grams each day for women and 38 grams each day for men helps achieve two well-supported benefits: better bowel regularity and lower LDL cholesterol.

Bowel regularity improves because fiber adds bulk to the stool and helps water content stay appropriate, which speeds up transit through the intestines and prevents constipation. LDL cholesterol tends to drop with higher fiber intake, especially soluble fiber found in foods like oats, beans, and some fruits; it forms a gel in the gut that binds cholesterol and bile acids, reducing their absorption and nudging the liver to use more cholesterol to make new bile acids.

Values that are much lower or much higher than these guidelines don’t align with the typical benefits of dietary fiber, and claims like increased energy, weight gain, enhanced protein absorption, or improvements in vision and hair growth aren’t established effects of fiber.