Detary fiber
Detary fiber is a term used to identify plant polysaccharides and lignins that are not hydrolyzed by the endogenous secretions of the human digestive system. The medical and nutritional communities have long recognized the health benefits of a high fiber diet. Low intake of dietary fiber is associated with high incidents of several diseases including coronary heart disease, diabetes, obesity, and colon cancer. Dietary fiber is classified into water-insoluble dietary fiber and water-soluble dietary fiber. Water-insoluble dietary fiber exhibits physiological functions such as increasing the size of excrement, reducing the time required for digested food to pass through the intestines, inhibiting starch hydrolysis, delaying glucose absorption, etc., which is attributed to a large amount of water absorption when water-insoluble dietary fiber passes through digestive organs. Plant components which make up dietary fiber include, among others: structural polysaccharides (cellulose and hemicellulose), nonstructural polysaccharides (pectines, B-glucans; gums and mucilages) and structural non-polysaccharides (lignin). Because dietary fiber is not well digested by humans, dietary fiber ingredients are non-caloric and contribute to a reduction in total food calories to the extent that they are used as a replacement for caloric ingredients such as carbohydrates, proteins, and fats. It is reported that the soluble dietary fiber component is the critical component in reducing serum cholesterol. It is reported that insoluble dietary fiber health benefits achieved by consuming the fiber. The mechanism of soluble dietary fiber to improve lipid metabolism is supported by the functions that soluble dietary fiber inhibits lipid absorption in the digestive tract and accelerates excretion of bile acid, and that the short chain fatty acids, in particular propionic acid produced from fermentation of the fiber in the colon, suppresses the synthesis of cholesterol. Well-known insoluble dietary fibers include cellulose, lignin, and the like, and soluble dietary fibers include Guar gum, Arabic gum, pectin, hemicellulose, and etc. The modes of action of dietary fiber in the human gastrointestinal tract include providing mechanical distention through its water holding activity, stimulating bowel movement, slowing down the gastrointestinal transition and digestion process, modifying fat absorption, increasing bile acids excretion, and detoxicating toxic substances. The physiological benefits of adequate levels of dietary fiber in the diet have become more and more evident. Such benefits include the normalization of the bowel function and reduction of the occurrence of certain colonic diseases. The roles of dietary fiber as an alexeteric for protecting the gastrointestinal tract from diseases have also been documented. These include reduction in gastrointestinal cancer incidence, constipation, hiatal hernia, appendicitis, diverticular disease, and hemorrhoids. There are also implications of its use in the treatment or prevention of "irritable bowel syndrome". Increased dietary fiber intake has been used in the treatment for diabetes, hypoglycemia, hypercholesterolemia, hypertriglyceridmedia. Dietary fiber has also been used as a control for metabolic rates to help prevent obesity.
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