Medical Benefits Of Benefiber

Benefiber is a fiber supplement frequently used in the medical or hospital setting to provide more fiber to patients. Benefiber is made up of wheat dextrin, which is a soluble fiber. Frequently, patients in the hospital need a fiber supplement, and Benefiber is recommended as it can help correct constipation and diarrhea and is easily added to liquids and thin solids, such as mashed potatoes. Benefiber assists with meeting the 25 to 35g of fiber daily recommended by the American Dietetic Association.

Fiber for Diarrhea

Diarrhea is a frequent occurrence in medical settings, such as the hospital. Diarrhea occurs for a variety of reasons, including new medications, stressful situations and sickness. Benefiber helps to treat diarrhea by providing 3g of soluble fiber per serving. Each serving can be added to soft foods and liquids like yogurt, mashed potatoes, milk shakes and juice, according to Benefiber.com. A 2000 study in the "Journal of Gastroenterology and Nutrition" led by Alam Nur assessed the effectiveness of Benefiber in 150 children who had diarrhea for 48 hours or less. Benefiber helps reduce the amount of diarrhea as well as the frequency. Improvement in diarrhea is a medical benefit to the patient as well as for the hospital since it decreases hospital length of stay.

Fiber for Constipation

Constipation is common in a hospital setting because patients are frequently on various medications, trying new medications and likely not drinking enough fluids, all of which lead to constipation. Benefiber assists in treating constipation by providing soluble fiber in the form of guar gum. An advantageous use of Benefiber in a medical setting is its use in tube feedings to provide adequate fiber to patients who are not eating by mouth, according to T.S. Dharmarajan author of "Practical Gastroenterology." Improvement in constipation is beneficial to patients and hospital since it decreases the time a patient stays in the hospital.

Lowers Cholesterol

The ongoing use of Benefiber as a fiber supplement lowers cholesterol. Soluble fiber has been shown in studies to lower low-density lipoprotein, or LDL, cholesterol. LDL is the "bad" type of cholesterol that contributes to plaque formation in the body. "Nutrition and Diagnosis-Related Care" by Sylvia Escott-Stump says that soluble fiber slows digestion. As digestion slows, fiber changes the way cholesterol is typically recycled and put back into circulation. Instead, cholesterol is used for synthesis of bile acids, which decreases circulating LDL cholesterol.