In my grandmother's day it was called roughage, but included iceberg lettuce, not mega amounts of added fiber. Also, the fiber craze came along with the anti-fat message. Without fat to move things along, and before people understood the importance of magnesium, a nutrition-free fiber rotor-rooter was the only thing that nutritionist "experts" could come up with to help their constipated clients. But it clogs some people up more.