High fiber diets make you full, not fat. Controlling obesity reduces the incidence of cancer, heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and high blood pressure. Soluble fiber soaks up water and makes stools bulky, causing carcinogens, bile acids, and cholesterol to pass rapidly through the intestines. You are getting enough fiber if your stools float. Fiber adds lots of water to hard stools, making them softer, lighter, and much easier to pass.
Cholesterol is an ingredient of bile, which is used in the digestion of certain foods.
Soluble fiber sops up these bile acids and then excretes them in the stool. The best way to increase fiber is to make plant foods the foundation of your diet. A good source of fiber contains at least two grams per serving. Most packaged foods indicate the amount of fiber on the label. Other good sources are prunes, peas, rice bran, corn, apple pulp, bananas, pears, citrus fruits, carrots, strawberries, raspberries, and blueberries.