Barber, Thomas M.; Kabisch, Stefan; Pfeiffer, Andreas F. H.; Weickert, Martin O. (2020). The health benefits of dietary fibre. nutrients, 12(10), 3209–. doi:10.3390/nu12103209
Direct effects on the gut include prebiotic (bifidogenic) effects, improvement of bowel habits and bowel function in constipated subjects, increased colonic absorption of minerals (Ca and Mg), and secretion of satiety hormones. Indirect effects are on blood lipids, bone mineral content, the immune system, and energy homeostasis.
Schaafsma, G., & Slavin, J. L. (2014). Significance of Inulin Fructans in the Human Diet. Comprehensive Reviews in Food Science and Food Safety, 14(1), 37–47. doi:10.1111/1541-4337.12119
Alexiou, H., and Franck, A. (2008). Prebiotic inulin-type fructans: Nutritional benefits beyond dietary fibre source. Nutrition Bulletin, 33(3), 227–233.
Inulin as a type of soluble fiber that is fermented by gut microbiota, leading to the production of short-chain fatty acids and the stimulation of the growth of Bifidobacterium and Lactobacillus species.
Roberfroid, M. B. (2007). Inulin-type fructans: functional food ingredients. The Journal of Nutrition, 137(11 Suppl), 2493S-2502S.
Inulin supplementation reduced gut inflammation in experimental models, suggesting a potential therapeutic application for inulin in inflammatory bowel disease (Daubioul & Lambert, 2002).
Daubioul, C. A., Horsmans, Y., & Lambert, P. (2002). The role of probiotics and prebiotics in the management of gut inflammation: an assessment in experimental models. International journal of molecular medicine, 10(5), 717-721.
Inulin is a safe and effective prebiotic fiber that can promote the growth of beneficial gut bacteria, improve overall gut health, and potentially have therapeutic applications for various health conditions such as inflammatory bowel disease, type 2 diabetes, and obesity (Rondanelli, Faliva, Peroni, & Perna, 2018)
Rondanelli, M., Faliva, M. A., Peroni, G., & Perna, S. (2018). Inulin as a prebiotic fiber: A review. Foods (Basel, Switzerland), 7(8), 1-14. doi: 10.3390/foods7080113.
People who consume or utilize these polysaccharides have low exposure to some fatal life-threatening illnesses. Rich sources of indigestible polysaccharides such as vegetables, cereals, fruits and nuts are beneficial to good health as consuming them reduce the occurrence of degenerating diseases such as colon cancer, heart disease, diabetes, etc.
Popoola-Akinola, O. O., Raji, T. J., & Olawoye, B. (2020). Lignocellulose, dietary fibre, inulin and their potential application in food. Heliyon, 8(5), e10459. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2022.e10459
