Research
Hormonal
Dietary fiber intake improves metabolic health by increasing short-chain fatty acid (SCFA) production, which activates G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) to enhance insulin sensitivity, energy expenditure, and gut microbiome diversity.
Aim for 25-38g of fiber daily from whole plant sources. This supports gut health and metabolic function via SCFA production.
GoodSupportsHIGH confidence
Bacteria in the cecum and colon have the enzymatic machinery to ferment dietary fibre into short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs)... Binding of these fatty acids to G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) in various tissues is thought to mediate the metabolic effects of fibre intake
Why this rating
Supported by mechanistic studies in mice and humans, and large-scale epidemiological data.
Source
Macronutrient Determinants of Obesity, Insulin Resistance and Metabolic Health
Jibran A. Wali et al. · Biology · 2021
DOI 10.3390/biology10040336
narrative_reviewCited 60×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
More from this paper
- High intake of fructose and high-glycemic carbohydrates promotes obesity and insulin resistance through de novo lipogenesis, ectopic lipid deposition, and inflammatory pathways, whereas high fiber intake improves metabolic health via short-chain fatty acid production and microbiome modulation.Good
- Saturated long-chain fatty acids (LCFAs) promote insulin resistance and ectopic fat deposition via diacylglycerol (DAG) and ceramide accumulation, whereas medium-chain fatty acids (MCFAs) and polyunsaturated fats do not produce these detrimental effects.Good
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