Make Sure You're Getting Enough Of This For Better Gut Health, Study Finds
It's no secret that fiber is essential to a healthy diet—but a ton of people aren't getting enough of it. The World Health Organization1 recommends at least 25 grams of naturally-occurring dietary fiber per day, yet research indicates only about 5% of the U.S. population is actually getting that much.
But with intestinal issues like inflammatory bowel disease, irritable bowel syndrome, and colon cancer on the rise, it's never been more important to mind our gut health. And according to new research published in the journal Mucosal Immunology, getting more fiber could be one easy way to do so. Here's what they found.
Looking at the relationship between wheat fiber & inflammatory bowel disease
Your typical "bread and butter" ain't what they used to be. As the study authors note, white flours today often have much of the fiber removed, which of course removes fiber's health benefits.
So for this study, they wanted to assess whether enriching mice's diet with wheat fiber might protect against intestinal inflammation. (Wheat fiber can be found in both whole grain and whole wheat breads.)
To do so, they fed a group mice low-fiber diets, while the other group was fed a diet enriched with wheat fiber. These mice were essentially given colitis by the researchers, who injected them with T-cells to trigger bowel inflammation.
And sure enough, those mice eating the fiber-enriched diet saw gut benefits, while the low-fiber diet group did not. Namely, wheat fiber resulted in anti-inflammatory metabolites like polyphenols, which protected the mice from intestinal inflammation.
"These results suggest that the reduction in wheat fiber consumption that resulted from industrialization is one factor that may have contributed to the increases in chronic T-cell mediated diseases, including IBD," the study authors write, adding that regardless, "Consumption of wheat fiber may reduce risk for developing such diseases."
How to get enough fiber in your diet
The study authors note that different plant-sources have distinct benefits. Soluble fibers, for example, increase beneficial short-chain fatty acids, while wheat fiber appears to release polyphenols. Both are great for gut health—but they're not the same.
"Indeed, the more we study dietary fibers, the more we appreciate that they are highly diverse compounds with fibers from distinct plants having distinct health-promoting impacts," says senior study author Andrew T. Gewirtz Ph.D. in a news release. "Better understanding of these molecules should ultimately enable production of healthier processed foods but, meanwhile, choosing whole wheat and whole grain breads and having one's diet include an assortment of fruits and vegetables seems a good idea," he adds.
Think swaps like whole wheat breads and pastas instead of white. And while you're at it, it never hurts to up your intake of fiber-rich fruits and veggies as well.
Again, the WHO recommends at least 25 grams of fiber a day, so here's our guide to high-fiber foods for more options.
The takeaway
Tummy issues are no joke, especially when they become chronic and lead to things like IBD. The reality is, a ton of our foods have been stripped of their beneficial fiber, so the more you can reach for options that do still have wheat fiber, the better.