Impact of Dietary Fiber Supplementation on Blood Glucose Levels

Introduction

Carbohydrate absorption and metabolism play a critical role in a person’s wellbeing. Fiber is a type of carbohydrate that cannot be absorbed in the digestive tract. Fiber is also unique because of its inability to provide energy to the body. Both soluble and insoluble fiber variants are critical to human wellbeing. Consuming a high-fiber diet reduces the risks of contracting type 2 diabetes or cardiovascular ailments. This outcome is achieved through reductions in glycemic responses and a decrease in cholesterol concentrations. Consequently, this study sought to establish whether supplementing soluble fiber has corresponding benefits on human health.

Methods

The Ethical Advisory Board approved this study of the Faculty of Science and Engineering. It involved ten (10) participants aged between 18 and 40 years old. These respondents should not have a history of cardiovascular ailments or diabetes. They should be on a regular diet, which does not include any food supplements. It is also vital to incorporate participants who do not follow any restrictive diets, including weight management protocols or modifications because of dietary intolerance. All applicants who satisfied these requirements were sent to the lab for the actual experiment, where they were given food before their blood samples were collected for testing.

Drawn blood samples were centrifuged to separate the serum. After collecting all serum samples, they were subjected to duplicate analysis. Standard curves using blank samples were drawn for each research conducted on the models. The curves were also drawn to show the relationship between absorption and concentration. This approach also allowed the researchers to compute the engagement in all samples.

Results

Discussion

The study showed that consuming high amounts of dietary fiber reduces blood sugar levels and type 2 diabetes. Soluble fiber slows down sugar absorption rates in the body. This approach reduces the blood sugar level at any point within a person’s system, thereby improving their medical outcomes (Weickert and Pfeiffer 2018, 6). Reduced blood sugar levels infer lower levels of glycosylated hemoglobin percentages. This outcome underscores the importance of having soluble fibers in the diet because it eliminates the need for additional insulin production to regulate the spike in blood sugar levels witnessed when persons consume diets without fiber supplementation (Jovanovski et al. 2019, 4).

During this study, respondents showed a slight reduction in their blood glucose and cholesterol concentration after fiber supplementation. These findings mean the fiber affected the natural body rate of releasing sugar into the blood, preventing a spike in blood glucose concentration levels that necessitate adding added insulin for regularization. These spikes are dangerous for persons who have type2 diabetes (McRae 2018, 3). Additionally, fiber supplementation in the diet reduces the risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

References

Jovanovski, E., Khayyat, R., Zurbau, A., Komishon, A., Mazhar, N., Sievenpiper, J.L., Mejia, S.B., Ho, H.V.T., Li, D., Jenkins, A.L. and Duvnjak, L., 2019. Should viscous fiber supplements be considered in diabetes control? Results from a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. Diabetes Care, 42(5), pp.755-766.

McRae, M.P., 2018. Dietary fiber intake and type 2 diabetes mellitus: an umbrella review of meta-analyses. Journal of Chiropractic Medicine, 17(1), pp.44-53

Weickert, M.O. and Pfeiffer, A.F., 2018. Impact of dietary fiber consumption on insulin resistance and the prevention of type 2 diabetes. The Journal of nutrition, 148(1), pp.7-12.

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