4-in-1 Psyllium Fiber Powder, Sugar-Free

Metamucil is Procter & Gamble's psyllium fiber brand, and its Sugar-Free Orange 4-in-1 powder has more than 35,000 buyer ratings. Each rounded teaspoon (5.8 g) provides 3 g of dietary fiber from psyllium husk, 2 g of it soluble. It's sweetened with aspartame and colored with Yellow 6. You stir it into at least 8 oz of liquid and drink it before it thickens.

Psyllium is one of the few fiber supplements with strong, consistent evidence. A 2022 meta-analysis of 16 randomized trials found that fiber supplements improved chronic constipation, and psyllium was one of the fibers with significant effects, especially at more than 10 g a day for at least four weeks. A 2018 meta-analysis of 28 trials found that a median of about 10 g of psyllium a day lowered LDL cholesterol by about 0.33 mmol/L (roughly 13 mg/dL). Soluble fiber from psyllium also carries an FDA-authorized heart-health claim at 7 g a day. In practice, that means about three teaspoons a day, not one, which is still cheap: the 180-teaspoon tub costs about $35, or roughly 58 cents a day at three servings.

The trade-offs are the additives and the handling. Some buyers dislike the aspartame, maltodextrin and artificial dye, and people with phenylketonuria must avoid it (25 mg of phenylalanine per teaspoon). Psyllium can affect how well medicines are absorbed, so take it at least two hours apart from them. It can also trigger allergic reactions in people sensitive to psyllium.

buyers consistently praise its effect on regularity and the orange taste. The most common complaints are gas or bloating while the body adjusts, a gritty texture that thickens if you don't drink it quickly, and the artificial sweetener.