- Eating enough fiber, and in particular insoluble fiber, is crucial for promoting bowel regularity and gut health, but new evidence suggests more ways that it can improve overall health.
- University of Minnesota researchers recently found that insoluble fiber in plants contains unique bioactive compounds believed to lower the risk of type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and cancer.
- The new study suggests that including such bioactives in foods and supplements can have “a real impact on human health.”
People’s consumption of fruits, vegetables, and grains remains low despite the benefits of these foods being widely documented. For example, fewer than 10% of Americans meet the daily Dietary Guidelines for whole-grain intakes.
Multiple studies attest that consuming plant foods may reduce chronic illnesses such as type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and certain cancers.
Researchers at the University of Minnesota in St. Paul, MN, have now uncovered additional benefits of insoluble fiber beyond improving stools and laxation.
In their recent review study, the experts found that bioactives in insoluble dietary fiber (IDF) may support health in different ways. They also discovered that isolated fiber may be added to various foods to boost their nutritional value.
Such fiber may easily be derived from food production byproducts such as peel, pulp, or pomace—substances that are rich in fiber and bioactives.
Dr. Joanne Slavin, professor of nutritional sciences at the University of Minnesota’s Department of Food Science and Nutrition and co-author of the study, said:
“Fiber is the marker of health that is included in our dietary guidelines and found on product labels, but our research indicates that we need to ensure the other valuable components of fiber-containing plant sources —the bioactives —are also recognized as providing valuable benefits for human health.”
The findings were published in Nutrients.
Dr. Slavin and her colleagues searched the Ovid…
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