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Verified by IngredientMD/Metamucil/Fiber
VERIFIED BYingredientMD

Fiber.

Strong evidence, strong doseMetamucil, verified Oct 2026Formula verified. Independently reviewed.Independent review. Not commissioned by Metamucil.

Psyllium Husk is the lead active here, studied most for regularity. 10 human studies on Psyllium Husk back this formula, each one cited. Each serving carries 5 g of Psyllium Husk, inside the range the published research used. Who it fits: for everyone, adults.

Clinically dosedFull label disclosure
4Active ingredientsWell studiedResearch base54Human studies
FiberVerified by IngredientMD
MetamucilIngredientMD
The verdict
Strong evidence, strong dose
For everyone, adults.
How we verify

The brand submits the formula. We read the supplement facts panel and weigh dose, form and synergy against the clinical evidence. Labs test. IngredientMD verifies. The fee pays for review time, never for the outcome.

The formula
Psyllium Husk: RegularityKey driver
Sodium: HydrationWell studied
Iron: Temperature regulationExtensively studied
Potassium: Electrolyte balanceExtensively studied

How we read this product

Source: Supplement facts
Supplement Facts panel for Fiber
  1. 01
    We read the label.

    The panel on the left is the one we evaluated, line by line.

  2. 02
    Every active, separately.

    All 4 actives checked against the clinical evidence: dose, form, and what the research actually shows.

  3. 03
    Then the formula as a whole.

    Doses, ratios, and how the ingredients work together. That assessment is the verdict above: "Strong evidence, strong dose".

  4. 04
    Earned, not bought.

    The verdict is public and identical whether or not a brand pays. A formula that does not clear the bar gets nothing.

Read by the engine against 2.1 million data points from clinical trials, PubMed and more than a hundred vetted sources. No individual reviewer is named or implied.

The receipts

Well studied
Research base
54
Human studies
5 g
Psyllium Husk
10 mg
Sodium
5 g per serving sits inside the studied 3 g-7 g range
Psyllium Husk, Jovanovski et al. 2018 Am J Med meta-analysis; FDA health claim approval 1998

Cross-checked against 583 documented interactions for these actives.

Read the evidencePsyllium Husk, the evidence →Sodium, the evidence →Iron, the evidence →Potassium, the evidence →

Inside the formula

Psyllium Husk
10 studies
Regularity
Studied 3 g to 15 g a day
Key driver
Sodium
11 studies
Hydration
Well studied
Iron
17 studies
Temperature regulation
Extensively studied
Potassium
16 studies
Electrolyte balance
Extensively studied
In context

The gap this formula speaks to.

Public health figures the engine matched to this formula's ingredients. Reported by their source, cited and dated, never written by the brand.

This formulaNHANES 2017-2018, published 2021

57.6%

During 2017 to 2018, 57.6% of US adults aged 20 and over reported using a dietary supplement in the past 30 days.

CDC National Center for Health Statistics
The people it speaks toFieldwork 2017 to 2018

58% of the recommended fiber intake

was reached on average by US consumers, who ate 8.1 grams of fiber per 1,000 calories in 2017 to 2018 versus the 14 grams recommended, per USDA Economic Research Service analysis of federal food consumption survey data.

USDA Economic Research Service, 2023
17 more
The people it speaks to

34% of US adults

aged 18 and over report they experience abdominal discomfort or pain at least a few times per month, with women about twice as likely as men to report it several times weekly, per a 2023 Ipsos poll conducted for MDVIP.

Ipsos, 2023
Daily use

59 to 66 days

was the median time it took adults to make a new daily health habit automatic across the studies a 2024 review pooled, with individuals ranging from 4 to 335 days.

Systematic review and meta-analysis, 2024
Psyllium Husk

Randomised trial, 2021

In women of reproductive age with slow bowel transit, psyllium husk shifted gut microbiota composition and its measured functions alongside changes in stool frequency.

Aging
Psyllium Husk

Systematic review and meta-analysis, 2022

Across 16 trials in adults with sluggish bowel habits, fiber supplements raised stool frequency and improved stool consistency, with psyllium among the fibers showing a clear effect at doses above 10 grams a day.

American Journal of Clinical Nutrition
Psyllium Husk

Meta-analysis, 2025

Reviewing trials with a dose-response analysis, psyllium changed blood lipid measures, with the effect varying by dose, though lipid values are lab measures rather than clinical events.

Genes and Nutrition
Sodium

Systematic review, 2026

A systematic review catalogued gastrointestinal symptoms reported across sodium bicarbonate dosing protocols and described how symptom burden varies with dose, timing and whether the dose is split or given with food.

European Journal of Sport Science
Psyllium Husk

Systematic review and meta-analysis, 2024

A rigorously graded review reported effects of psyllium on fasting blood sugar and two other blood sugar markers, all laboratory markers of how the body handles sugar.

BMC Endocrine Disorders
Sodium

Randomised trial, 2026

Microencapsulated sodium butyrate was tested against abdominal symptom scores and carbohydrate metabolism markers in adults with high blood sugar. Again a butyrate trial in which sodium is the carrier salt.

Scientific Reports
Sodium

Randomised trial, 2026

A randomised trial tested an algorithm-driven sodium supplementation protocol against usual care and measured growth in infants born preterm.

Pediatrics Open Science
Sodium

Randomised trial, 2025

In a trial of 104 very preterm infants, oral sodium supplementation raised daily weight gain by 3.6 grams per kilogram compared with placebo.

BMJ Paediatrics Open

Population figures from public health data. Context for the category, not a statement about any individual and not a claim about this product.

What this formula earned

Every one of these is a fact the engine could ground.

Each line below was derived from this formula's own record at the time of verification. Nothing here was written by the brand, and nothing can be added that the evidence does not carry.

  • Studied in people17 human studies on Iron back this formula, each one cited.
  • A mechanism that is settledHow Psyllium Husk and Sodium work is settled pharmacology.
  • Studied together, not just separatelyPsyllium Husk and Iron have been studied together, not only separately.
  • Recent work on the recordThe most recent study on this record was published in 2026.
  • Serving amount inside the studied rangeEach serving carries 5 g of Psyllium Husk, inside the range the published research used.
  • A stated daily maintenance amountPsyllium Husk is here at a daily maintenance amount, which is what a daily supplement is for.
  • Why this formatIt is a powder, so the serving scales to the amount you want and mixes into something you already drink.
  • The exact form, describedThe label names its forms exactly: Psyllium husk, Sodium chloride, table salt, sea salt, Ferrous sulfate. The record says what each one is and what it suits.
  • Full label disclosureEvery ingredient on this label carries its own declared amount.
  • Where it comes from and how it is madePsyllium Husk is made by botanical.
  • Positions this formula already qualifies forThis formula already qualifies for positions beyond the one it is sold into, on the evidence it carries.
  • A position nobody is holding yetSome of those positions are ones almost nobody is selling to yet.
  • Interaction screen on the recordEvery active on this label was screened against the interaction record, and the screen is published with it.
What the trials show

What the trials show about timing.

Time-to-effect windows the engine read from the trial record. Each is a window a named study measured, cited and dated, never written by the brand.

  • Psyllium Huskby the third and fourth week of daily useBuilds with daily use

    In a partially randomised comparative-effectiveness trial in 79 adults with chronic constipation, 12 g per day of psyllium raised the weekly rate of complete spontaneous bowel movements significantly when treatment weeks three and four were compared with baseline, and straining improved. The primary responder endpoint did not separate psyllium from the two comparators. A separate four-week randomised trial in 172 constipated adults found 3.5 g per day of psyllium raised bowel movement frequency by 2.9 movements, which was not different from the 3.7 seen on placebo.

    Chey et al., 2021PMID 34074830
    Cheng et al., 2019PMID 31117218
    Promising
  • Psyllium Huskabout seven days of daily useBuilds with daily use

    In two randomised, placebo-controlled, double-blinded trials, seven days of psyllium against maltodextrin in 8 healthy volunteers and 16 constipated patients raised stool water content and shifted faecal microbiota composition, with the larger shift in the constipated group and increases in three butyrate-producing genera correlating with the rise in faecal water. Stool water and microbiota were the measurements. Symptoms were not the endpoint.

    Early
  • Sodiumabout 3 days to 4 weeks of steady intakeBuilds with daily use

    In the excretion studies the EFSA reference opinion reviews, urinary output closely tracked dietary sodium once intake was held steady: 98% of dietary sodium appeared in 24-hour urine in a 3-day study, and 86% of sodium ingested over 4 weeks was recovered in 24-hour urine collected during the same period.

    Early
  • Sodiumabout 29 days at each fixed intake levelBuilds with daily use

    In the controlled metabolic study the EFSA reference opinion reviews, young men held at constant sodium intakes for 29 days per level showed rising average daily urinary aldosterone excretion as intake was stepped down from 4.9 g/day to 2.5 g/day.

    Promising
  • Ironwithin 24 hours of a single doseMeasured within a day

    A randomised crossover study in 54 nonanemic young women with plasma ferritin at or below 20 ug/L gave labelled iron sulfate as single fasting morning doses of 40, 60, 80, 160 and 240 mg. Twenty four hours after doses of 60 mg or more, serum hepcidin was raised and fractional iron absorption from the following dose was 35% to 45% lower. Across the dose range a sixfold rise in dose, 40 to 240 mg, produced a threefold rise in iron absorbed, 6.7 to 18.1 mg. Total iron absorbed from three doses inside 24 hours was not significantly greater than from two morning doses. The measure was iron absorption and serum hepcidin, not a symptom.

    Promising

Windows measured in the cited trials. Context for how the active behaves over time, not a statement about any individual and not a claim about this product.

General timing

How each ingredient usually behaves over time.

Four ingredients, from each one's own page.

How each ingredient usually behaves over time, from its own page on IngredientMD. General timing for the ingredient, not a measurement of this product.

Chemical form

The same ingredient, carried differently.

What each form is, and where it fits in a formula. Measured findings carry the study that reported them.

  • Psyllium husk

    Intact husk flakes separated from the seed by mechanical milling and sieving, high in intact arabinoxylan structure.

    Fits
    Stirred drinks where a coarse texture is acceptable and maximum water-holding per gram is wanted.
    Trade-off
    Gritty texture and it thickens quickly in liquid, so it has to be drunk without delay.

Descriptions of the form itself, read from the cited studies. Not a comparison between products and not a statement about any individual.

Format

Powder

It is a powder, so the serving scales to the amount you want and mixes into something you already drink.

Best forGram-scale actives: creatine, collagen, protein, electrolytes, beta-alanine.
From the same shelf

Studied alongside this brand's other formulas

Where two of this brand's products carry actives the literature has read together, the pairing and its basis are below. The evidence word is the corpus row's own confidence, never a score.

Fiber + Psyllium Fiber PowderEstablished

The Na/K ATPase pumps three sodium out for every two potassium in, setting the membrane potential of every cell. Renal sodium reabsorption is coupled to potassium excretion, so raising one changes the handling of the other.

Opposing sides of the sodium-potassium ATPase and of renal handling. No combination trial has tested this exact pairing.

Questions shoppers ask

Is Fiber independently verified?
Yes. IngredientMD reviewed this formula independently and verified it in Oct 2026. The verdict is earned, not bought: brands can't edit or purchase it.
What's in Fiber?
Fiber is built on Psyllium Husk, Sodium, Iron, Potassium. Each ingredient links to its own evidence page on IngredientMD.
Were ingredient interactions checked?
Yes. The combination was screened against 583 documented interactions for these actives in IngredientMD's interaction database.
Who is IngredientMD?
IngredientMD is an independent supplement-science platform. We analyze ingredients and formulas against clinical research, and we verify products only when they clear our bar. Labs run the tests. We review the results.
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These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. This record is not medical advice. Always consult your healthcare provider before starting any supplement regimen.

Independent review by IngredientMD, not commissioned by MetamucilWork at Metamucil? This verification is yours to claim →