title: Dietary fiber and retrograde starch.
abstract: The history of the recognition of the importance of dietary fiber, their current classification into water-soluble and water-insoluble fiber, and lignin, a single non-carbohydrate fiber, and the physiologic role of dietary fiber, with particular reference to retrograde starch resistance to small intestine digestion, are briefly presented. Dietary fiber are highly hygroscopic, thus they greatly contribute to stool voluminosity by binding water, decrease the glycemic index, and exert a protective action, via an as yet unknown mechanism, against the occurrence of colon cancer. It should be added that some dietary fiber decrease the concentration of cholesterol in the blood, i.e. in the human body. The importance of the methodology used for NSP determination is underlined, since some methods determine only some of the polysaccharides, other also measure some other substances, whereas Englyst's method determines NSP only.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Zivković
mesh_terms: D002784:Cholesterol / Q000097:blood; D003106:Colon / Q000378:metabolism; D004043:Dietary Fiber / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000378:metabolism*; D005285:Fermentation; D006801:Humans; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000517:prevention & control; D012995:Solubility
chemical_list: D004043:Dietary Fiber; D002784:Cholesterol