Dietary fiber and its effect on obesity: A review article

Abstract

Obesity is a prominent health problem in the developed world, and leads to other metabolic diseases. Besides exercise and physical activity, a dietary regimen of fiber-rich food could be a primary solution to overcome obesity. Over the past decades, scientists have been investigating the role of dietary fiber to prevent obesity through innumerable experimental or observational studies. Epidemiological evidences showed that dietary fiber in either soluble or insoluble form helps to reduce weight among overweight or obese adults. This review explores studies that used dietary fiber in different forms to provide a probable conclusion. The objective of this review is to demonstrate the relationship between intake of dietary fiber and its effect on obesity. A comprehensive search for published academic peer-reviewed articles up to August 2018 was carried out through a systematic electronic search of several databases. Any interventional, cross-sectional or prospective cohort study from 1980 to 2018 that examined the association between intake of dietary fiber and obesity was included. All the cross-sectional and cohort studies suggested a significant relationship between fiber intake and a reduction in obesity or a classification of being overweight. Within interventional studies, some treatment groups showed no association with fiber supplementation, whereas other studies with longer interventional periods showed a significant association with obesity. Though increased consumption of dietary fiber has an impact on health, it depends on the sources or functionality of the fiber, supplementation or consumption dosage of the fiber, and both the duration of the study and follow-up time points. This suggests that fiber in an edible form or from its mixing with other foods may contribute to prevent the prevalence of obesity.

Empirically derived dietary patterns and obesity among Iranian Adults: Yazd Health Study‐TAMYZ and Shahedieh cohort study

“…The odds of obesity are reduced in the prudent dietary pattern, since it is rich in fruits and vegetables, which contain fiber (Burton‐Freeman, 2000; Glore, Van Treeck, Knehans, & Guild, 1994; Zank & Kemp, 2012). In addition, chewing fiber requires more time than normal foods (Heaton, 1973) and it absorbs more water, creates a viscous gel that increases stomach distention (Howarth, Saltzman, & Roberts, 2001), provides low energy, and slows down the gastric emptying (Ruhee & Suzuki, 2018). Fiber also creates a feeling of satisfaction, decreases serum insulin secretion, and reduces the food intake (Ruhee & Suzuki, 2018).…”

“…In addition, chewing fiber requires more time than normal foods (Heaton, 1973) and it absorbs more water, creates a viscous gel that increases stomach distention (Howarth, Saltzman, & Roberts, 2001), provides low energy, and slows down the gastric emptying (Ruhee & Suzuki, 2018). Fiber also creates a feeling of satisfaction, decreases serum insulin secretion, and reduces the food intake (Ruhee & Suzuki, 2018). Fiber fermentation produces short‐chain fatty acids that modify the eating patterns by releasing the peptides and gut hormones, such as cholecystokinin and glucagon‐like peptide 1 (Anderson, Smith, & Gustafson, 1994; Du et al, 2009; Yao & Roberts, 2001).…”

Chronic Inflammation as an Immunological Abnormality and Effectiveness of Exercise

“…Modern society has entered an age that is characterized by high fat diets, food satiation, and exercise deficiency due to automation and convenience. This has led to increases in lifestyle-related diseases including obesity, a large social problem [12,13]. Overeating and/or sedentary lifestyles can cause an accumulation of fat tissue in the body, and the infiltration of inflammatory cells such as macrophages into such tissues [1,14].…”

“…Chronic inflammation is, therefore, likely to negatively affect aging, disease susceptibility, and people’s healthy life expectancy [1,15]. Such chronic diseases are also increasing globally, with the World Health Organization (WHO) collectively naming lifestyle-related diseases, allergies, and cancers as noncommunicable diseases (NCD) and highlighting them as key issues for future medicine, healthcare, and public health [10,12,13].…”

Physical activity and nutrition guidelines to help with the fight against COVID-19

“…Dietary fibres (digestible and non-digestible carbohydrates) act on human health to prevent some disease conditions (Otles & Ozgoz, 2014;Ruhee, 2018). A diet rich in dietary fibres is considered healthy, not least because of their role in improving intestinal health (Lindberg, 2014).…”