Eating different kinds of dietary fiber affects our microbiota, the bacteria that live in our guts, which can in turn affect our overall health. How these dietary fibers, found in fruits, vegetables, and grains, help beneficial gut bacteria grow and how these fibers break down into other bioactive metabolites that benefit the body is an area of growing research.
We know that when people eat a variety of fibers, the types of bacteria that make up their microbiota change in healthy ways. Still, two people eating the same high-fiber food might have very different types of bacteria that grow in their gut.
Gut bacteria break down dietary fibers into short-chain fatty acids and other potentially beneficial metabolites, which can reduce inflammation, strengthen the gut barrier, and support the immune system. The type of fiber eaten determines what types of bioactive metabolites are created by our gut bacteria.
Investigators, including ACNC scientists, used metabolomics to characterize how different human microbiota types break down six different types of inulin fibers. Regardless of microbiota type, each of the fiber types were uniquely metabolized similarly across individuals. This suggests that people can still get the health benefits of fibers even when they have different types of bacteria in their gut.
This work highlights that dietary fiber plays a role in keeping humans healthy—supporting the recommendations to eat a balanced diet rich in many plant-based fibers. This work also suggests that future nutrition plans could be personalized based on a person’s gut microbiome and help clinicians suggest targeted diets or specific foods to better support gut and overall health.
Read the research manuscript here: https://journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/msystems.01031-25