Research

Hormonal

Sustained high-wheat fibre intake (24 g/d) increases plasma glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) and short-chain fatty acids (SCFA) in hyperinsulinaemic subjects, but this adaptation requires 9–12 months to manifest.

If you are insulin resistant, simply adding 24g of wheat fibre daily (e.g., one serving of high-fibre cereal) will not immediately fix your blood sugar. It takes 9 to 12 months of consistent intake for your gut bacteria to adapt and produce enough SCFA to boost GLP-1, a hormone that helps regulate insulin. Do not quit after a few months; the benefit is delayed but real.

GoodQualifiesHIGH confidence
It is concluded that wheat fibre increased SCFA production and GLP-1 secretion in hyperinsulinaemic humans, but these effects took 9–12 months to develop.
Kristin R. Freeland et al. · British Journal Of Nutrition · 2009

Why this rating

Randomized controlled trial with a long duration (1 year) and specific population (hyperinsulinaemic), though sample size was reduced by dropouts.

Source

Adaptation of colonic fermentation and glucagon-like peptide-1 secretion with increased wheat fibre intake for 1 year in hyperinsulinaemic human subjects

Kristin R. Freeland et al. · British Journal Of Nutrition · 2009

DOI 10.1017/s0007114509991462

rct · n=28Cited 184×
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DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10

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