Dietary fibre comes from the thick cell wall of plants. It is an indigestible complex carbohydrate. Fibre is divided into two general categories-water soluble and water insoluble.
Soluble fibre lowers cholesterol.1 An analysis of many trials of soluble fibre reveals it has a cholesterol-lowering effect, but the degree of cholesterol reduction in many studies was quite modest.2 For unknown reasons, diets higher in insoluble fibre (mostly unrelated to cholesterol levels) have been reported to correlate better with protection against heart disease in both men and women.3 4
