The fiber in real food is of two kinds: soluble, which is globular (e.g. beta-glucan, pectin, inulin, etc.); and insoluble, which is stringy (e.g. psyllium, cellulose, chitin, etc.). You need both, as they do different jobs. The insoluble fiber forms a latticework (like a fishing net) in the duodenum, and the soluble fiber plugs the holes in that latticework. Together they form a secondary barrier on the inside of the duodenum, which prevents early absorption of mono- and di-saccharides, as well as other readily absorbable nutrients.

Psyllium is an insoluble fiber. Alone It could form the latticework, but not plug the holes. Beta-glucan is a soluble fiber. It can swell and absorb water, but could not lay down the scaffolding. To get the benefits on delay of absorption, you would need both. Real food has both. Ingestion of either psyllium alone or beta-glucan alone could not form the secondary barrier. You need both. Could you put both into one pill? Perhaps. But the side-effects would be highly problematic.

Psyllium is not compressible, so in order to lay down the latticework for creation of the duodenal barrier, you would have to take a high dose of psyllium. Furthermore, psyllium leads to loose stools, which is not disastrous, but is not pleasant. Beta-glucan swells with exposure to water and does not release the water causing severe bloating, distress, and diarrhea. It does not absorb macronutrients, just water. Furthermore, neither fiber gives up the water it absorbs, resulting in problematic and persistent GI distress. 

Intact fiber – as a whole food – has many benefits. Not just the short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs). In the processed food industry, the “germ” of the grain (the nucleic acids, flavinoids, polyphenols) is removed with the fiber. Keeping the fiber also means keeping the germ intact. 

“In youth-onset type 2 diabetes, the major modifiable risk factors are obesity and lifestyle habits of excess nutritional intake, low physical activity, and increased sedentary behaviors with decreased energy expenditure, resulting in the surplus of energy being stored as body fat.”

The Guardian enters “The Butter Battle 2.0”.  More heat than light.

Here are the 10 things everyone need to know to navigate this minefield.

1. LDL-Cholesterol (LDL-C) levels (from dietary fat) correlate (but poorly) with CV mortality.
2. Triglyceride levels (from dietary sugar) correlate (much better) with CV mortality.
3. LDL particle number (LDL-P) is the right measure for CVD, and higher is worse. But a standard lipid profile measures LDL-C, not LDL-P. Wrong test.
4. Dietary fat raises LDL-C, but not necessarily LDL-P, while sugar raises triglyceride levels.
5. Red meat is associated with increased CVD. But maybe not because of its saturated fat. In fact, dairy saturated fat is protective against CVD.
6. If you have a super high LDL-C (over 200), then you probably also have a high LDL-P, and you might need a statin.
7. If your LDL-C is between 70 and 200, maybe your LDL-P is high, but maybe it is not. Statins are not prescribed based on LDL-P; they are prescribed based on LDL-C. This is a bad idea, yet doctors do it all the time.
8. 4/5 of the people taking statins were prescribed for high LDL-C. But this is the wrong reason. And 20% of statin takers get side-effects.
9. That doesn’t mean you should stop your statin. But it also doesn’t mean you can eat butter without abandon. 
10. A doctor who knows what they are doing can figure your situation out. But most don’t know what they are doing; they do as they’re told.

Reference:

• Butter nonsense: the rise of the cholesterol deniers. -The Guardian
• The cholesterol and calorie hypotheses are both dead — it is time to focus on the real culprit: insulin resistance. -The Pharmaceutical Journal

There are two kinds of fiber. Soluble (e.g. pectins, inulin), and insoluble (cellulose). You need both. When you have both, 6 good things happen:

1. The insoluble fiber forms a latticework in the duodenum, and the soluble fiber plugs the holes in the latticework to create an impenetrable secondary barrier. This limits simple carbohydrate absorption in the duodenum, thus preventing the liver from receiving all that carbohydrate at once, tamping out the tsunami of carbohydrate.
2. This also reduces the glycemic excursion in the blood, so that the insulin response will be attenuated.
3. If the carbohydrate isn’t absorbed in the duodenum, it goes to the jejunum, where the microbiome is, promoting microbial diversity and gut health.
4. Grains are covered in insoluble fiber (the husk). If you consume them whole and non-pulverized, the enzymes in the intestine have to strip that covering off before the starch is released. That takes a lot of time, and so it happens later in the intestine, so the the bacteria can get to it.
5. The soluble fiber can be fermented by intestinal bacteria to make short chain fatty acids, which also suppress insulin release and improve gut health.
6. The insoluble fiber acts like little “scrubbies” on the inside of your colon to remove old and damaged cells, thus reducing risk for colon cancer.

The best fiber is where there is both soluble and insoluble. That’s everything that comes out of the ground — before it’s processed. As soon as it’s processed, it loses many of these six properties.

Photo credit: Fancycrave, Unsplash