Wheat Bran (Raw)
Food · Grain · Food, Typed Supps
Forty-two grams of fibre per hundred — the highest figure in the library.
Stage by stage
- The stripped layer (The grain): This is what white flour milling removes — and where most of the grain’s minerals were.
- Insoluble bulk (Colon): Adds bulk and speeds transit; it does not gel the way soluble fibre does.
- Phytate (Circulation): Binds iron, zinc and calcium in the same meal and reduces their absorption.
- Magnesium (Skeleton): 450 mg per 100 g — exceptional, though a serve is 12 g not 100.
Timing
Not alongside iron or zinc supplements — the phytate binds them. Increase gradually and drink more water than feels necessary.
Time to effect
- Days: Transit and stool bulk respond quickly.
- Per 12 g serve: Around 5 g of fibre — the realistic number.
Allergens
Contains: Gluten. Derived from what this food is, not from a product label.
Eating patterns
Fits: Vegan, Vegetarian, Pescatarian, Halal, Kosher.
Satiety
278 on the satiety index, where white bread is 100 — very high. Modelled from the Holt et al. (1995) measurements.
Environmental footprint
1.6 kg CO2e and 648 litres of freshwater per kg, matched to "Wheat & rye" in Poore & Nemecek (2018), Science 360.
Cost band
Cheap — roughly £2.5 per kg, as a band midpoint rather than a price.
Key nutrients
Nutrition per 100g
- Calories: 267
- Protein: 14.8g
- Carbohydrate: 22.6g
- of which sugars: 2.7g
- Fat: 4.1g
- of which saturated: 0.7g
- Fibre: 41.8g
- Sodium: 6mg
Food vs. supplement
Fibre supplements are usually psyllium, which is soluble and gels. Wheat bran is insoluble and bulks. They do different things, and in IBS the difference decides whether the advice helps or hurts.
Kitchen tip
Start with a tablespoon and build up over a fortnight. Doubling your fibre overnight is how people end up abandoning it.
Common myth
“Fibre is fibre — bran will help my IBS.” In reality: It often makes it worse. Wheat bran is insoluble fibre, which bulks and speeds transit; several trials show it aggravates IBS symptoms in a substantial proportion of people. Soluble fibres like psyllium are the ones with better evidence there. For simple constipation bran works well — for IBS, the type of fibre is the whole question.
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