Non‐soluble dietary fiber effects on lipid absorption and blood serum lipid patterns

Generalized effects of dietary fiber on lipid absorption and blood serum lipid patterns of humans have not been defined and may not even exist. The term dietary fiber covers a wide variety of materials with different chemical and physical characteristics. The ability of pectins and mucilages, often classed as soluble fibers, to lower blood and liver lipids has been demonstrated repeatedly and consistently. However, demonstrated hypolipidemic effects of feeding such non‐soluble fibers as cellulose, hemicellulose and bran are by no means consistent. On the basis of pooled data, it appears that hypolipidemic response or non‐response of humans to inclusion of non‐soluble fibers in diets is in part related to the degree of fecal bulking as a result of in vitro water holding capacity and in part related to pre‐study blood serum lipid levels of the individual subjects.