The Straight Dope: It is true all the vitamins in potatoes, apples, etc., are in the skin?

An interesting article fromThe Straight Dope that explains why consumption of dietary fiber is important and how it lowers cholesterol: "There are several types of dietary fiber. The one abundant in apples, and to some extent in all fruits and vegetables, is called pectin. It's water soluble, and water-soluble fiber has been shown to reduce blood cholesterol levels.

What happens apparently is that each particle of fiber grabs an armful of bile salts on its way through the intestine (a process called 'binding') and carries it out of the body during excretion.

The body then has to make new bile salts and evidently uses cholesterol as the raw material, thus keeping the blood cholesterol level down."

It's sad that things like this are exciting to me. It's just nice to know that I don't have to take for granted the fact that dietary fiber lowers cholesterol.