The Health Benefits of Dietary Fibre

Dietary fibre consists of non-digestible forms of carbohydrate, usually as polysaccharides that originate from plant-based foods. Over recent decades, our diet within Westernised societies has changed radically from that of our hominid ancestors, with implications for our co-evolved gut microbiota. This includes increased ingestion of ultra-processed foods that are typically impoverished of dietary fibre, and associated reduction in the intake of fibre-replete plant-based foods. Over recent decades, there has been a transformation in our understanding of the health benefits of dietary fibre.

To explore the current medical literature on the health benefits of dietary fibre, with a focus on overall metabolic health. DATA SOURCES: We performed a narrative review, based on relevant articles written in English from a PubMed search, using the terms 'dietary fibre and metabolic health'.