Types of dietary fibre | Fybogel | Senokot

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Different Types of Dietary Fibre
What is Fibre?
Different Types of Dietary Fibre

Different Types of Dietary Fibre

This article explains what dietary fibre is, different types of fibre and ways to include more fibre in your daily diet.

What is Fibre?

Fibre is a type of carbohydrate found in plant foods that is not digested. In the UK, it’s recommended that adults should eat around 30g of fibre daily. Here are some common foods and their fibre content (see Table 1).

Table 1: Common Foods and Their Fibre Content

Food	Fibre Content (g)
Medium banana	2g
Apple	2g
Small handful of walnuts (30g)	2g
Medium orange	3g
Raspberries (60g)	3g
Broccoli (80g)	3g
Medium carrot e	3g
Brown rice (180g)	3g
Linseeds or flax seeds (15g)	4g
Tahini (30g)	4g
Uncooked oats (50g)	5g
Chia seeds (2tbsp)	8g

Unlike other types of carbohydrates - such as starch and sugar, which are digested in the small intestine - fibre passes through to the large intestine, where it’s broken down by gut bacteria. This process is known as fermentation.

Fibre is classified according to many factors, such as its ability to be broken down by health bacteria (fermentability) as well as its ability to thicken and dissolve in water. These last two properties are important for healthy digestion. They help fibre to absorb water in the intestine and add bulk to the stool, which makes it easier and more comfortable to pass.

Eating enough dietary fibre can help you to stay regular, preventing constipation.

Different Types of Dietary Fibre

There are lots of forms of dietary fibre, each with different properties which affect our health (see Table 2).

Table 2: Different Types of Dietary Fibre

Type of Dietary Fibre	Food Sources	Key Properties
Resistant Starch (RS)	Wholegrains Green bananas Cooked and cooled potato, pasta and rice Chemically modified starch (sometimes added to manufactured foods which are high in energy/fat i.e., cakes and biscuits. Remember to limit portion sizes for these foods)	RS ‘resists’ normal digestion in the small intestine It’s broken down in the large intestine, which helps to feed our gut bacteria.
Psyllium (Ispaghula Husk)	Psyllium is a bulk-forming laxative which is recommended by NICE as a first-line treatment for constipation It’s often taken in powder/husk form or as a tablet	Dissolves easily in water, which means it absorbs water in the intestine, bulks up the stools and helps to make them easier to pass.
Prebiotics Containing Foods	Oats Wheat Soybeans Garlic, onion and leeks Asparagus Chicory Jerusalem artichokes Bananas	Food ingredients which help to maintain or restore gut bacteria.