Dietary Fiber In Health And Disease (advances In Experimental Medicine And Biology)

This volume carries the proceedings of the Vahouny Fiber Symposium, which took place in Washington DC, in March of 1996. George V. Vahouny pioneered this conference, which was conceived as a means of exchanging information on the latest advances in fiber research. The conference was renamed in George Vahouny's honor after his untimely death. In this volume we have included the reminiscences of Prof. A.R.P. Walker, one of the pioneers in the field, and discussion of the epidemiological findings relating dietary fiber to heart disease, cancer, and gastrointestinal disease. As the overall definition of fiber has broadened we have included for discussion other aspects of carbohydrate chem­ istry and metabolism. Complex carbohydrates were the subject of a full session and resis­ tant starch and the role(s) of oligosaccharides were discussed later in the meeting. Another area of fiber metabolism that is beginning to burgeon is that of the short chain fatty acids, and this too was the subject of presentations and discussion. In addition, the more familiar topics in dietary fiber were updated. Workshops devoted to specific areas of fiber research have now become a mainstay of these meetings, and they were repeated successfully. Due to restraints on spending, the attendance at this meeting was somewhat smaller than usual but the discussion was lively and pertinent. We are deeply grateful to our sponsors and contributors for their continuing interest in dietary fiber research, and for their generous support of this symposium. Front Matter....Pages i-xiii Nutritionally Related Disorders/Diseases in Africans....Pages 1-14 The Evolving Epidemiology of Fiber and Heart Disease....Pages 15-26 Dietary Fibre and Human Cancer....Pages 27-34 What is a High Fiber Diet?....Pages 35-42 Overview on Complex Carbohydrates....Pages 43-50 Dietary Guidelines and Complex Carbohydrates....Pages 51-53 Classification of Complex Carbohydrates....Pages 55-61 Determination of Complex Carbohydrates in Foods as the Sum of Available Starch and Dietary Fiber....Pages 63-67 Application of Complex Carbohydrates in the Food Industry....Pages 69-78 Soluble Fiber and Hypertension....Pages 79-87 Soluble Fiber and Energy Regulation....Pages 89-97 Soluble Fibers and Dietary Lipids....Pages 99-108 Sites and Mechanisms for the Hypocholesterolemic Actions of Soluble Dietary Fiber Sources....Pages 109-121 Butyrate and the Colonocyte....Pages 123-134 Short Chain Fatty Acids, Intestinal Adaptation, and Nutrient Utilization....Pages 135-143 Short Chain Fatty Acids Inhibit the Expression of the Neutrophil Chemoattractant, Interleukin 8, in the Caco-2 Intestinal Cell Line....Pages 145-153 Short Chain Fatty Acids....Pages 155-167 Butyrate....Pages 169-181 Effect of Short Chain Fatty Acids on Calcium Absorption in Humans....Pages 183-189 Influence of Short Chain Fatty Acids on Intestinal Growth and Functions....Pages 191-199 Resistant Starch — An Update on Its Physiological Effects....Pages 201-210 Health Benefits of Non-Digestible Oligosaccharides....Pages 211-219 Gastrointestinal Effects of Fructooligosaccharides....Pages 221-234 Phytosterols....Pages 235-243 Adding Certain Fiber-Related Nutrients to Food Products....Pages 245-248 Fiber and Cancer Protection — Mechanisms....Pages 249-257 Dietary Fiber and Bile Acid Metabolism — An Update....Pages 259-266 Hard Wheat Bran and Hard Wheat Bran Fiber Energy Values Measured in Rats after 6 and 16 Weeks....Pages 267-289 The Protective Role of Dietary Fiber in Diverticular Disease....Pages 291-308 Dietary Guidelines/RDA/Daily Value Workshop....Pages 309-310 Soluble Dietary Fiber Workshop....Pages 311-313 Workshop Report....Pages 315-317 Workshop on Animal Models Used in Fiber Research....Pages 319-322 Back Matter....Pages 323-325