It has been suggested that fibre-rich foods facilitate body weight control due to
fibre’s satiating effect due to its relatively low energy density, its ability to
increase the viscosity of the diet and thereby slow digestion and the ability to
provide a mechanical barrier to enzymatic digestion of other nutrients such as carbohydrate
and fat.
In the Nurses’ health study, women with a higher increase in dietary fibre gained
more body weight over 12 years than those with a lower increase in dietary fibre.
According to Du et al. (2010) the physiologic effects of fibre depend on
several factors, including the origin and source of fibre.
Du et al. (2010) showed that participants in the higher quintile of cereal
fibre intake had lower total fibre intake and lower fruit and vegetable fibre intake.
After adjustment for potential confounders, Du et al. (2010) found that
total dietary fibre intake was inversely associated with annual weight change, observed
by the effects of 6 study centres combined: 10 gram/day total dietary fibre intake
was associated with an annual weight change of -39 grams/year (95% CI: -71, -7grams/year).
According to Du et al. (2010), total dietary fibre intake was positively
associated with waist circumference change, observed in of all study centres: 10
gram/day total dietary fibre intake was associated with an annual waist circumference
change of +0.08 cm/year grams/year (95% CI: -0.11, -0.05 centimetres/year).
Short chain fatty acids could stimulate satiety and improve insulin sensitivity
and thus have a beneficial role in regulating body weight.
Fibre from potatoes, nuts and legumes was significantly associated with subsequent
changes in weight and waist circumference (P>0.05), as reported by Du et al.
(2010).
A key strength of the study conducted by Du et al. (2010) was the large
sample size and large variation in fibre intake among participants from 5 different
European countries.
Although the effect was small when judged on an individual level, the effect of
fibre on weight change observed by Du et al. (2010) may be of public health
relevance and distinguishing the effects of fibre from different sources on weight
and waist circumference gain may be important for public health guidelines.
The findings of the research conducted by Du et al. (2010) supported the
suggestion that intake of fibre, especially cereal fibre, is beneficial for preventing
(abdominal) obesity.
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