Dietary Fiber and Dyslipidemia

Fibers are abundantly found in vegetables, fruit, beans, cereals, seeds, and tubers. Beans and seeds, alongside prevailing as both of the fiber sources, are the sources of vegetable protein as well. Whereas tubers are a carbohydrate source, which people deem as a staple food. Fiber intake in diets, particularly soluble fibers, has the ability to produce gel in the intestines, inhibiting glucose and cholesterol absorption. Dietary fibers have the ability to bind bile salts in the digestive tract, and disturbed bile reabsorption will stimulate bile synthesis in the liver. Dyslipidemia has a significant role in systemic responses and inflammation in adipose tissues. Inflammation can increase intestinal permeability and adipose tissues. Dyslipidemic management is carried out by altering lifestyles, intervening in suitable diets to reduce LDL levels, and increasing HDL levels. The degree of compliance with diet interventions is seminal to ensure successful dyslipidemic management.

Dietary Fibers and Nutraceuticals in Prevention of Hypertension

Hypertension is the major cause of mortality amongst many cardiovascular risk factors causing 7.5 million deaths annually. Macronutrient and micronutrient deficiencies are very common in general population and have broad-ranging physiological effects in-vivo which lessen inflammatory cascades and vascular reactivity. A recent trend is to perform nutritional epidemiological studies linking overall diet pattern to the lifestyle, examining the link between food and nutrients of diet to risk of chronic diseases. This chapter would deal with pharmacological and pathological basis of hypertension, utilization of dietary fibers, functional foods, nutraceuticals for hypertensive populations as well as to those with increased cardiovascular risks.

Correction of eating habits in patients with carbohydrate metabolism disorders

The International Diabetes Federation estimates that approximately 10 % of the adult population in Ukraine has prediabetes. According to many studies, prediabetes is observed in every second obese patient, and later prediabetes can progress to type 2 diabetes mellitus. Therefore, timely detection of early disorders of carbohydrate metabolism is very important, as well as implementation of recommendations for lifestyle changes, the use of modern drugs to prevent type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. In recent years, increasing attention is drawn to dietary fibers as an integral part of a healthy diet. They help prevent obesity, metabolic syndrome and adverse changes in the gut, and also help increase the population of beneficial bacteria in the gut. That is why nutritionists recommend that obese people include dietary fibers in their diet. One of the most famous dietary fibers is psyllium, which comes from the husk of plantain seeds (Plantago ovata). Numerous studies show that psyllium has a positive effect on the functioning of many organs and systems, including the pancreas, intestines and heart muscle. Psyllium also lowers glucose and cholesterol and is an effective way to lose weight for people who are overweight. Fibolex® plant complex contains dietary fibers (psyllium and natural wheat fibers) and green tea extract. Due to the combined herbal composition, Fibolex® can be used in obese people, patients with prediabetes, metabolic syndrome, type 2 diabetes and other metabolic disorders for the correction of eating habits in order to improve carbohydrate and lipid metabolism.

Prebiotics, Probiotics, Synbiotics, Paraprobiotics and Postbiotic Compounds in IBD

The increasing incidence of inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) and the increasing severity of the course of these diseases create the need for developing new methods of therapy. The gut microbiome is extensively studied as a factor influencing the development and course of IBD. The composition of intestinal microbiota can be relatively easily modified by diet (i.e., prebiotics, mainly dietary fibers) and bacterial supplementation using beneficial bacteria strains called probiotics. Additionally, the effects of the improved microbiome could be enhanced or gained by using paraprobiotics (non-viable, inactivated bacteria or their components) and/or postbiotics (products of bacterial metabolism or equal synthetic products that beneficially modulate immunological response and inflammation). This study summarizes the recent works on prebiotics, probiotics, synbiotics (products merging pre- and probiotics), paraprobiotics and postbiotics in IBD.