fiber product availability in Florence grocery stores

We don't have raisin bran in Italy, but any standard supermarket has a wide range of breakfast cereals, including ones with fiber. Fiber One bars, no. For something like metemucil you should try a pharmacy where they sell a whole range of those kinds of products.

I've seen the GranCereale products in most grocery stores. They all seem to say "ricco di fibre."

One thing to keep an eye out for, a lot of nutrition labels here seem to routinely give the values per 100g rather than per normal serving size. (Some give both values.) So just keep that in mind when reading the label on the back.

I understand the question, but I also find that I eat so much better in Italy, getting more natural fiber, that fiber additives seem to be less of a need.

Supermarkets also have a good varity of yogurt. There prune flavored is common if you can't find bran.

Marilyn, If this is a necessity for your comfort and health, try to find a product that you can easily pack. If the product you use regularly at home (Metamucil, etc.) is too bulky to take along, try out other products before you go to see if you can find a substitute. There are fiber filled capsules that pack easily in a zip-loc bag, or cookie-like wafers.

Any regularly used healthcare product is not something that you want to experiment with when you are traveling. Ingredients may differ and you want to avoid allergic reactions. You will be experiencing so many wonderful new adventures the last thing you want is to be feeling out of sorts. Part of a trip I took a few years ago was almost spoiled because I made the mistake of thinking I could find a fairly common over-the-counter medicine, but could not.

The foods do tend to be very healthy in Italy, on the whole, and musili type cereals are common.

Thanks for your replies. I wondered if I'd get any response at all. I eat a ton of fruit, beans, lentils and whole grain bread and still need a fiber supplement. I also have 1/2 cup of FiberOne mixed with other, better tasting cereal most days. No other cereal has 14 grams of fiber in a 1/2 cup serving--there's just no substitute. Guess I'll pack a ten day supply. The FiberOne bars are good tasting and have 9 grams of fiber.