DF characteristic | GIT effect | Systemic effect |
Water-holding capacity & viscosity | Slows gastric emptying; | Slows digestion, especially of protein and lipids; |
Changes digesta mixing; | Associated with reduced plasma cholesterol; | |
Alteration of digestive enzyme activity; | Blunting of glycemic response; | |
Stimulates passage rate; | ||
Bulking | Gastric distension; | Decrease food intake; |
Changes in mixing & diffusion; | ||
Adsorption of compounds (e.g. bile salts, polyphenols & minerals) | Increases bile acid excretion & other compounds; | Blood cholesterol; fermentation of polyphenols; |
Retention of polyphenols until large intestine; | ||
Encapsulation | Plant cell walls encapsulate e.g. starch granules; | Transport of starch (resistant) to LI for fermentation; |
Fermentability | Increases microbial biomass & fermentation end-products (e.g. SCFA); | Energy for colonocytes; influences satiety; fecal bulking; “colonization resistance” to pathogens; |
Induces selection of specific microbes; |