Dietary fibre for glycaemia control: Towards a mechanistic understanding

Publication date: April 2018Source: Bioactive Carbohydrates and Dietary Fibre, Volume 14Author(s): H. Douglas Goff, Nikolay Repin, Hrvoje Fabek, Dalia El Khoury, Michael J. GidleyAbstractOne of the many functional benefits of dietary fibre when present in the human diet is its ability to reduce the rate of absorption of glucose after consumption of high glycaemic carbohydrate-containing foods, leading to a blunted blood glucose response curve and less demand for insulin. Glycaemia control through dietary intervention is of significant importance to those at high risk for Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2D), or those with Impaired Glucose Tolerance or with T2D, populations that are growing globally at an alarming rate. The soluble polysaccharide gums are well known to induce viscosity and/or gelation in solution, and their physiological function is often related to this rheological behaviour. However, gastrointestinal secretions and dilution, and acidification and re-neutralization, can affect the rheological properties of the polysaccharides in vivo. When one considers the physiology of starch and sugar digestion and glucose absorption, it is possible to elucidate several plausible mechanisms by which both soluble and insoluble fibres might contribute to Glycaemia control: reduction in gastric emptying, modification of release of digestion- and fermentation-related hormones, inhibition of amylase activity and delayed starch hydrolysis, reduction in diffusion of amylolytic products...
Source: Bioactive Carbohydrates and Dietary Fibre - Category: Food Science Source Type: research