Researchers from the French National Centre for Scientific Research have uncovered new findings that explain why fermentable fibre, found in vegetables, fruit and beans, is able to prevent weight gain and reduce risk of Type 2 diabetes.
The key to the protective effects lie in how the intestines respond to fermentable fibre: the intestines are able to synthesise and release glucose as a result of the fermenting process, which is picked up by nerves in the portal vein, and triggers a number of hormones to be released.
These then promote satiety, or the feeling of fullness, increase energy expenditure while resting, and decrease glucose production in the liver.
These effects all help to decrease the likelihood of obesity and help protect against the development of insulin resistance.
To test out the effects, the researchers put mice into two groups.Both groups had a diet high in both fat and sugar, but one of the groups also received supplementation with fermentable fibres.
The study found that the mice receiving the fibre, on top of their high calorie diets, put on much less weight than the mice that were not supplemented with fibre.
The researchers tested the validity of the importance of glucose production in the intestines by repeating the experiment, only this time mice that were unable to produce glucose from their intestines were used. This time round, both groups of mice, those supplemented with fermentable fibre and those without supplementation, became obese and developed type 2 diabetes.
The research highlights the importance of getting a good quantity of soluble fibre each day. Good sources of soluble fibre include vegetables, most fruits, but excluding fruit juices, oats, beans, pulses and seeds.
