This is Monica Reinagel, the nutrition diva, here with your quick and dirty tips for eating well and feeling fabulous.

I've talked before about the health benefits of fiber, but this week I want to focus on two major categories of fiber, insoluble and soluble.

Each plays a unique role in promoting health and preventing disease, so let's take a closer look at how these two types of

fiber work to keep you healthy and how to be sure you're getting plenty of each.

So let's talk first about fiber in general. Fiber comes from plant foods, fruits, vegetables, grains, nuts, and legumes. It's a type of

carbohydrate that your body can't digest. Unlike starches and sugars, which are the other types of

carbohydrates, fiber contributes no calories or food energy.

Instead of being broken down and absorbed into the bloodstream, fiber simply passes through

the entire digestive tract.

But that doesn't mean it doesn't do anything for you along the way.

For one thing, food containing fiber

takes up more space than food that doesn't.

And that usually means that you feel fuller after you eat it.

For example, you'll feel more satisfied if you eat a meal that contains 300 calories and 10 grams

of fiber than if you were to eat a meal with the same number of calories, but less fiber.

Not only will you feel more satisfied after you eat, but that feeling

of satisfaction will tend to last longer. That's because when a meal contains fiber, the food

moves more slowly from your stomach into your small intestine.

Translation, it takes longer for you to feel hungry again after a high fiber meal than after a low fiber meal.

Obviously both of these effects, which are technically known as increased satiety and delayed

gastric emptying, are helpful for those who are trying to watch their calorie intake, and in fact,

studies show that people who eat more fiber tend to be leaner and are less likely to gain weight over time.

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