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Dietary fiber and its effect on obesity: A review article

Ruheea Taskin Ruhee, Katsuhiko Suzuki

Obesity is a prominent health problem in the developed world, and leads to other metabolic diseases. Besides exercise and physical activity, a dietary regimen of fiber-rich food could be a primary solution to overcome obesity. Over the past decades, scientists have been investigating the role of dietary fiber to prevent obesity through innumerable experimental or observational studies. Epidemiological evidences showed that dietary fiber in either soluble or insoluble form helps to reduce weight among overweight or obese adults. This review explores studies that used dietary fiber in different forms to provide a probable conclusion. The objective of this review is to demonstrate the relationship between intake of dietary fiber and its effect on obesity. A comprehensive search for all published academic articles and peer-reviewed up to August 2018 was carried out through a systematic electronic search of several databases. Any interventional, cross-sectional or prospective cohort study from 1980 to 2018 that examined the association between intake of dietary fiber and obesity was included. All the cross-sectional and cohort studies suggested a significant relationship between fiber intake and a reduction in obesity or a classification of being overweight. Within interventional studies, some treatment groups showed no association with fiber supplementation, whereas other studies with longer interventional periods showed a significant association with obesity. Though increased consumption of dietary fiber has an impact on health, it depends on the sources or functionality of the fiber, supplementation or consumption dosage of the fiber, and both the duration of the study and follow-up time points. This suggests that fiber in an edible form or from its mixing with other foods may contribute to prevent the prevalence of obesity.