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MentorSanoAcademy

Course › Applied nutrition for counselling

Foundations · 4 min

Dietary fibre: soluble, insoluble, resistant starch

What is fibre, and why does not all of it do the same thing?

Lesson summary

What to remember

  • Fibre is not fully digested; it reaches the colon.
  • Viscous soluble fibre helps glucose and cholesterol; insoluble fibre, transit.
  • 25 g a day is the adequate target for adults.
  • Psyllium: plenty of water, a gap from medicines, gradual increase.

At your next counselling session

With a patient increasing their fibre, say:
With fibre supplements, check which medicines they take and when.

  • “Add one new source a day, not everything at once.”
  • “Drink more water as you increase the fibre.”

Sources

  • EFSA — Dietary Reference Values for carbohydrates and dietary fibre, 2010
  • Slavin J., Nutrients, 2013
  • EFSA — Scientific opinion on oat beta-glucan and blood cholesterol, 2010