Research

Mixed

Current dietary guidelines and public health messaging focusing solely on total dietary fiber (TDF) intake quantities are insufficient because they fail to specify which types of fiber or food sources are required to achieve specific health benefits.

Stop counting only the total grams of fiber. Look at the source. To get specific health benefits, you need to consume specific types of fiber from specific foods (like oats for beta-glucans or vegetables for insoluble fiber). Current guidelines often fail to tell you this, so you must look at the food source, not just the number.

GoodQualifiesHIGH confidence
The overall intent was to be able to provide more detailed guidance on the types of fibre which should be consumed for good health, rather than simply a total intake figure, the current situation.
Alison M. Stephen et al. · Nutrition Research Reviews · 2017

Why this rating

Based on a comprehensive review of definitions, analytical methods, and national surveys across Europe.

Source

Dietary fibre in Europe: current state of knowledge on definitions, sources, recommendations, intakes and relationships to health

Alison M. Stephen et al. · Nutrition Research Reviews · 2017

DOI 10.1017/s095442241700004x

narrative_reviewCited 773×
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DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10

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