If you're one of those picky eaters who says too many healthy foods taste like sawdust, you'll be glad to hear how Uncle Sam's been spending your tax dollars.

Government researchers have found a new way to add fiber to foods so they don't taste so dry.

They've dubbed it "invisible fiber."

"Regular fiber absorbs water when added in large amounts, making the foods become very dry and gritty," says Charles Onwulata, a research food technologist with the Agricultural Research Service in Wyndmoor, Pa.

"However, the invisible fiber absorbs much less and makes for moister, more cohesive products," he says. In other words, tastier cookies, muffins and breads than the current high-fiber fare.

Onwulata and other scientists at the government laboratory took conventional fiber and wrapped it with milk protein, which had been extracted from milk by a commercial producer. The protein creates a barrier, essentially waterproofing the fiber so it doesn't pull moisture from surrounding ingredients, Onwulata says.

The baked goods still taste good in your mouth, he says. But, once you've swallowed the muffin or cookie, the milk protein begins to dissolve in your gut. The fiber then can absorb water, mostly in your colon, Onwulata says.

Fiber has been touted for years as a healthy addition to food. In the early 1970s, researchers reported it might help prevent colon cancer, which killed nearly 48,000 Americans last year, according to American Cancer Society (news - web sites) estimates.

Increased fiber also has been linked with a reduced risk for stroke, heart disease, diabetes, cholesterol and obesity, says Samantha Heller, senior clinical nutritionist and exercise physiologist at New York University Medical Center.

"It's good stuff," Heller says.

Fiber is found naturally in many foods, but adding it artificially to breads and other baked goods caused problems, Onwulata says. By absorbing water from other ingredients, the fiber destroyed the moist cohesiveness that helps make those foods so tasty.

You were left, he says, with foods that tasted "very dry and gritty."

The new fiber hasn't gone through formal testing yet, Onwulata says, but it has fared well in some informal tasting parties at the lab.

"The products tasted great," he says. And, he adds, some baked goods that contain invisible fiber have shown better cohesion and texture.

What To Do

Eating foods with a higher fiber content, Heller says, helps you feel fuller sooner, probably reducing the number of calories you need. A cup of brown rice, for example, may have the same number of calories as a cup of white rice, she says, but it leaves you feeling quite differently.

"Chances are, you're going to eat less because it will fill you up," Heller says.

Still, she doesn't favor adding fiber artificially to your diet. Instead, she says, eat a balanced diet and you'll get the fiber you need -- about 25 grams to 35 grams a day.

"Try having vegetables every day," Heller recommends. And fruits, as well. "And go for whole-grain cereals," she says. Bran flakes cereal, for instance, can contain as much as 5 grams of fiber in just three-quarters of a cup, she says.

For more on the value of fiber to your diet, check out information from the Food and Drug Administration and the American College of Gastroenterology.

Or, you might want to read previous HealthScout articles on fiber.