Dietary Fiber Need Varies Depending on the Individual’s Gut Bacteria

Eat more dietary fiber concept may not work right for everyone, suggests a new Cornell University study.

The study, published in Gut Microbes (1^✔ ✔Trusted Source
Gut microbial features and dietary fiber intake predict gut microbiota response to resistant starch supplementation

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), focused on resistant starch, a category of dietary fiber found in such foods as bread, cereals, green bananas, whole-grain pasta, brown rice and potatoes.

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The researchers identified the gut microbe species that change in response to two different types of resistant starch. They found evidence that each individual may have a unique response to eating a resistant starch, with some people benefiting and others experiencing little or no effect. The reason appears tied to the level of diversity and composition of a person’s gut microbiome.

“Precision nutrition definitely has a use in determining what dietary fiber we should tell people to eat,” said Angela Poole, assistant professor of molecular nutrition and senior author of the study (2^✔ ✔Trusted Source
Impact of dietary fiber varies from person to person

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“This is critical because we’ve had public messaging advising people to eat more dietary fiber for decades,” Poole said. “At the same time, less than 10% of people eat the recommended intake. Since there are many different types of dietary fiber and carbohydrates, a better strategy would be to collect data on each person and tell them which dietary fiber they can eat to get the most bang for their buck.”

References:

1. Gut microbial features and dietary fiber intake predict gut microbiota response to resistant starch supplementation – (https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/19490976.2024.2367301)
2. Impact of dietary fiber varies from person to person – (https://news.cornell.edu/stories/2024/06/impact-dietary-fiber-varies-person-person)

Source-Eurekalert