Network Health Dietitians July 08 Issue 36

cover story
Added ﬁ bre: is this the future of food?
The Explosion of Gut Health Technology
F
ibre used to mean bran. Or By the late 80s the ﬁ bre message
by Ursula Arens
rather, increasing dietary intakes became more sophisticated. Along-
of ﬁ bre used to mean eating more side old-fashioned, insoluble, dietary
bran. In the late 1970s when Drs ﬁ bre, came the concept of soluble
From the late 90s there has been
Dennis Burkitt and Kenneth Heaton ﬁ bre, which promised not just bowel
increasing research and communi-
cation about prebiotic new ﬁ bres
did so much to communicate the health, but health beneﬁ ts from im-
– the indigestible food components
importance of increasing dietary
proved satiety and blood cholesterol
that provide substrate and stimulate
intakes of roughage, bran cereals
reduction. Professor James Anderson
the proliferation of benign gut ﬂ ora in
and bran sprinkled onto all variet-
is perhaps best credited as the aca-
the colon. And funding the research
ies of meals were highly recom-
demic most proliﬁ c in the commu-
and communication of these new
mended.
nication of the physiological effects
ﬁ bres, is a whole new fast-growing
‘The F Plan Diet’ by Audrey Ea-
of beta glucans and the beneﬁ ts
commercial sector deﬁ ned as ‘Gut
ton was a publishing success (and
of yummy gummy oats and beans.
Health Technology’.
unusually for a hot-selling diet book, Again there was some scope for fun
But before funding new-ﬁ bre
received a dietetic profession thumbs- and laughter in the dietetic clinic
research, an interesting question
up), and further promoted b&b (bran with references to getting-your-oats.
would be whether the British con-
and beans). The late 70s was a time for By the mid and late 90s the soluble sumer is still interested in ﬁ bre? A poll
lots of fun for dietitians with the guar- ﬁ bre messages merged into the of nearly 2,100 adults carried out in
anteed laughs from mentions of beans communications of the glycaemic May 2008, gives some useful insights.
and farts and stool texture (i.e. the Dr index differences between carbohy- While 55 percent of the sample felt
Heaton descriptors: ﬂ oaters or sinkers). drate foods. that they were eating enough ﬁ bre,
10 NHDmag.com July ‘08 - issue 36
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