You’ve probably heard that fiber is good for you, and maybe you’ve even heard that you can consume fiber for weight loss. Fiber is an essential part of a healthy diet with many benefits, and can also greatly help you slim down.

Dietary fiber, the kind we get from plants and other foods, is a kind of carbohydrate that the human digestive system can’t fully break down. This means it doesn’t turn into sugar in your blood stream. Fiber passes mostly intact through your digestive tract.