294581 Sun Oct 26 15:12:55 -0800 2003 14 27 General Chowhounding Topics 0 1615950 I read a reference to fiber cookies or crackers. Does anyone know a brand name? Are these sold in the supermarket? If so, which section? Also, does anyone know if pure fiber of any sort is sold in the health food store, or the bulk food store? And if so, anyone have any recipes to make the stuff palatable, without destroying the health value? Sun Oct 26 15:12:55 -0800 2003 0 Howard-2 1 1615959 Metamucil makes them. They're usually located with other laxative products in drugstores. Sun Oct 26 21:13:41 -0800 2003 1615950 0 Kirk 2 1615980 I find the Metamucil bars to be horrible. They taste OK, but if you don't eat them quickly enough, the mass forms the same sticky gluey mess it makes when you mix the stuff in a glass. I don't think I've seen "pure fiber" ever on sale, although cereals like All-Bran have a lot more than regular cereal. (By the way, the cereal makes some pretty good bran muffins.) At the end of the day though I just take psyllium husk capsules a few times a day. No worry about taste or texture. Mon Oct 27 09:36:57 -0800 2003 1615959 0 Jonathan Saw 3 1615984 The closest thing to "pure fiber" is wheat bran, which is sold, often in bulk, in health food and other grocery stores. Oat bran also is widely available, and it has the added benefit of (possibly) helping to lower cholesterol. Jonathan, when you take the psyllium capsules, do they help to offset hunger pangs? Most diets that include supplemental fiber suggest consuming it 15 - 30 minutes before a meal, so you will feel less hungry and fill up faster. Mon Oct 27 10:53:18 -0800 2003 1615980 0 Kirk 4 1616029 I buy organic wheat bran in bulk at Berkeley Bowl. It's about 35 cents a pound. A big bag weighs less than a pound. One time when the price-person was weighing it she was surprised that it cost so little. She asked me what I did with it. I replied that I mixed it in my breakfast yogurt. She gasped and said "you EAT it?" Yes, I replied, why not? She said at the Bowl they used it whenever there was a large liquid spill -- they use it like sawdust to mop up the mess. Mon Oct 27 16:20:40 -0800 2003 1615984 0 Joel Teller 5 1616065 Which reminds me... If and when you up the fiber in your diet, make certain you increase the amount of water you drink. Mon Oct 27 20:52:31 -0800 2003 1616029 0 Kirk 1 1616010 I find the Metamucil cinnamon cookies OK-- the apple ones are pretty horrible. You can get flax seed or wheat germ in glass jars at the supermarket or your local natural foods store. There are two benefits to the flax seed-- it doesn't raise your blood sugar as much as oat bran, and it has those happy omega 3 fatty acids we're supposed to be eating so much of. Mon Oct 27 13:36:09 -0800 2003 1615950 0 Erika 2 1616011 Any suggestions for flax seed recipes? Mon Oct 27 13:37:50 -0800 2003 1616010 0 Raconteur 3 1616036 i make my own granola, and i put flax seeds in it. tasty! Mon Oct 27 16:47:17 -0800 2003 1616011 0 jerusha 3 1616037 here's a link to a low-carbing site for cinnamon muffins and cheese bread. Any low-carbing site will probably turn up recipes. Link: http://sitelevel.whatuseek.com/query.go?crid=470cf3b21e0fa1e5&query=flaxseed&slice_title=Site+Recipes Mon Oct 27 16:51:38 -0800 2003 1616011 0 Erika 3 1616106 I do most of my baking with whole-wheat pastry flour and will often substitute 1/4 c. flax meal (ground flax seed) for 1/4 c. flour. You can also mix 1 T. flax meal with 3 T. water and substitute it for an egg. Just let it sit for a minute until it thickens a bit then stir it into the batter with the rest of the wet ingredients. I find this works best in recipes with more than one egg (e.g., instead of adding two eggs you add one egg and one flaxmeal/water combo). I have done this with great success in muffins, quick breads, pancakes, cookies... You can stir flax meal into cooked cereal and cooked brown rice, too. Or mix it with bread crumbs when breading fish or chicken. I like Bob's Red Mill brand which is available in the health food section of my local supermarket and at Trader Joe. Tue Oct 28 10:52:08 -0800 2003 1616011 0 Susanne 4 1616205 We buy organic flax seeds in bulk (about $1.89 per pound) and grind them to meal in an electric coffee grinder. As far as I know the health benefits are from the omega-3 oils and the fiber; neither would be much affected by heating. The lecithin is what makes it work like egg in a recipe, again not affected much by heat. Of course if you broil it to a char you will remove most of the benefits. Tue Oct 28 18:37:44 -0800 2003 1616106 0 Joel Teller 5 1616310 Actually, I did a bit of research and read that heating the flax seed above 120 degrees destroys the omega-3 oils. So I'd stick with raw flax if you're doing it for the health benefit. Wed Oct 29 11:16:14 -0800 2003 1616205 0 Cathy Elton 3 1616117 I was under the impression that heating flax robs it of any health benefits - which would rule out baking with it. Does anyone know if this is true? Tue Oct 28 12:02:46 -0800 2003 1616011 0 Cathy Elton 1 1616042 You may have also been reading about Ry-Krisp Fiber crackers, which are much more palatable than the yucky Metamucil cookies. Very nice with some tuna salad for lunch. Just check the different types of rykrisp type crackers and you'll see it. Mon Oct 27 17:23:13 -0800 2003 1615950 0 Patty