hi Deb,

I tried to do a search through Canadian over-the-counter formulary, but came up empty. I've never seen it on the shelf myself, but then I live in a smaller center. What I can glean about Benefiber is that it's made of partially hydrolized guar gum. It's a soluble fiber, which means it mixes with water. It's not bulk-forming.

In general, soluble fibers (gums, pectins, mucilage, etc) are used for helping to lower cholesterol and blood sugar levels. Insoluble fibers ("roughage") are for bowel regularity. You can read more about soluble fibers here.

Doreen