Research
Mixed
Low dietary fiber intake leads to a reduction in gut microbiota diversity and promotes the degradation of host mucus, increasing susceptibility to inflammation and colitis.
Ensure adequate intake of diverse dietary fibers from whole plant sources to prevent the gut microbiota from degrading your intestinal mucus barrier, which protects against inflammation and disease.
GoodRefutesHIGH confidence
a DF-deficient diet, led to a dramatic increase in bacterial populations degrading host-secreted mucus glycoproteins in a murine model, promoting an aggressive colitis by an enteric pathogen.
Why this rating
Based on murine models and epidemiological links; strong mechanistic evidence for the pathway.
Source
Gut Fermentation of Dietary Fibres: Physico-Chemistry of Plant Cell Walls and Implications for Health
Barbara A. Williams et al. · International Journal of Molecular Sciences · 2017
DOI 10.3390/ijms18102203
narrative_reviewCited 247×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
More from this paper
- Fermentation of dietary fibers by gut bacteria produces short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) like butyrate, acetate, and propionate, which reduce inflammation, provide energy to colon cells, and regulate metabolism.Strong
- Consuming complex, whole plant foods containing diverse dietary fibers and phytonutrients increases gastrointestinal tract (GIT) microbiota diversity and stability more effectively than consuming purified fiber isolates or ultra-processed foods.Good
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