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With the improvement of living standard, the food refinement degree is getting higher and higher, the proportion of animal food is increasing greatly. The dietary fat intake of residents is increasing, while the dietary fiber intake is significantly reduced, the so-called "life is getting better and better, less and less fiber". The resulting modern diseases, such as obesity, diabetes and hyperlipidemia, and diseases associated with low dietary fiber, such as bowel cancer, constipation and intestinal polyps, are on the rise. In order to prevent the occurrence of these diseases, it is very important to adjust the diet structure reasonably and achieve a balanced diet. Today I'm going to talk to you about dietary fiber.

01.What is dietary fiber?

Dietary fiber is a polysaccharide that can neither be absorbed by the gastrointestinal tract nor produce energy. Therefore, it was once considered as a "nutrient-free substance" and received insufficient attention for a long time. However, with the development of nutrition and related sciences, people gradually found that dietary fiber has important physiological function, so that in today's diet constitute a more refined, were identified for the seventh nutrient and traditional six types of nutrients, carbohydrates, protein, fat, vitamins, minerals and water.

02.Types of dietary fiber

Dietary fiber can be divided into soluble dietary fiber and insoluble dietary fiber. The former includes part hemicellulose, pectin and gum, while the latter includes cellulose, lignin and so on.

03.Function of dietary fiber

(1) Conducive to the digestion process of food: increase the time of chewing food in the mouth, can promote the secretion of digestive enzymes in the intestinal tract, and accelerate the excretion of intestinal contents, conducive to the digestion and absorption of food.

(2) Reducing serum cholesterol and preventing coronary heart disease: dietary fiber can combine with cholic acid and have the effect of reducing blood fat. Soluble fiber pectin, gum and soybean gum have obvious effect of reducing fat, but insoluble dietary fiber has no such effect.

(3) Prevent the formation of gallstones: most gallstones are caused by excessive saturation of cholesterol in bile, dietary fiber can reduce the concentration of bile and cholesterol, make cholesterol saturation decrease, and reduce the occurrence of cholelithiasis.

(4) Promote colon function, prevent colon cancer: dietary fiber has a strong ability to absorb water or the ability to combine with water. It can increase the volume of feces in the intestinal tract, accelerate its transport speed, and reduce the time for harmful substances to contact the intestinal wall.

(5) Prevent excess energy and overweight and obesity: Dietary fiber regulates the intestinal flora of the body, and healthy intestinal flora helps control energy intake to control weight and prevent obesity.

(6) Maintain the normal balance of blood glucose, prevent and control the occurrence and development of diabetes: By improving intestinal flora and promoting secretion of glucagon-like peptide (GLP-1), dietary fiber helps to improve blood glucose, prevent the occurrence of diabetes and control its development.

04.Food sources of dietary fiber

The main sources are plant-based foods, such as grains (wheat, rice, oats, rye, millet and sorghum, etc.), legumes, vegetables, fruits and nuts. The whole grain contains a lot of dietary fiber, including resistant starch and indigestible oligosaccharides, and is also rich in nutrients and some phytochemicals. Bran and rice bran contain a lot of cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin. The fruit such as citrus, apple, banana, lemon and Chinese cabbage, beet, alfalfa, pea, broad bean contain more pectin. In addition to the natural dietary fiber contained in natural foods, in recent years, there are a variety of powder form, crystal form of dietary fiber products extracted from natural foods.