Dietary fiber gets a lot of praise for helping people feel full and for lowering the risk of certain types of disease.
Yet many types of dietary fiber exist — and they don’t all work the same, according to a small new study.
“When you actually get down to it, fiber is incredibly heterogeneous. It’s very, very different,” said study co-author Michael Snyder, a professor and chair of genetics at Stanford University School of Medicine. “It’s like saying all animals are the same.”
His team focused on two popular fiber supplements to see how they affected cholesterol and blood sugar. Most people get too little fiber in their diet, and supplements could potentially close this gap, the researchers said in background notes.
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