Cell sub-journal: Not all dietary fiber is created equal

The health benefits of dietary fiber vary from person to person and may depend on the specific type of fiber and the amount consumed, according to a new study

The health benefits of dietary fiber vary from person to person and may depend on the precise type and amount of fiber consumed, researchers reveal in the April 28, 2022, issue of Cell Host and Microbes

"Our findings suggest that the physiological, microbial and molecular effects of individual fibers vary widely," said senior study author Michael Snyder, a geneticist at Stanford School of Medicine

A high-fiber diet may reduce the risk of heart disease, stroke, and cardiovascular disease

Chemically, fibers vary in length, branching, charge, solubility, and other properties

To address this question, Snyder and his colleagues set out to study how the purified individual fiber components affected the same group of participants

The researchers used fecal metagenomics, plasma proteomics, metabolomics, lipidomics, and analyzed serum cytokines and clinical values ​​in 18 participants

Participants consumed 10 grams of fiber per day for the first week, 20 grams per day for the second week, and 30 grams per day for the third week

"Several high-fiber foods have cholesterol-lowering effects, and our study suggests that these reductions may be driven by individual components of mixed fiber in unrefined plant foods," Snyder said

Meanwhile, LCI was associated with modest reductions in inflammatory markers and an increase in the abundance of Bifidobacterium, a generally beneficial gut microbe known to produce healthy short-chain fatty acids

Two limitations of the study were its short duration and small number of participants

"Overall, our findings suggest that the benefits of fiber depend on fiber type, dose, and the factor landscape of interactions between fiber, gut microbiota, and the host involved," Snyder said