Fighting Against Obesity with Fiber

Diets low in fiber and high in processed foods (like the Western diet) have been linked with obesity and inflammation. Obesity is part of the metabolic syndrome that often precedes diabetes and is associated with oxidative stress. Dietary fiber like the fiber found in Pinnaclife^® DigestiveHealth with Proprietary Blendhas been found to reduce body fat, and fiber intake is associated with increased weight management, as well as decreased cardiovascular disease and diabetes. Dietary fiber promotes gut microbial diversity that has been discovered in healthy individuals in contrast to less healthy individuals with issues like obesity. In addition, the olive polyphenols hydroxytyrosol and oleuropein found in Proprietary Blend and DigestiveHealth have been shown to convey beneficial effects against obesity.

Obesity arises due to an energy imbalance between calories consumed and calories spent creating an energy surplus
Diets low in fiber have been associated with obesity
Higher intakes of fiber are associated with healthier distributions of body fat
Maltodextrin fiber (like that found in DigestiveHealth with Proprietary Blend) was demonstrated to reduce body fat accumulation
Dietary fiber is an important energy source for gut bacteria
Beneficial bacteria are promoted by dietary fiber and produce metabolic products that help decrease intestinal inflammation
Ingredients in Proprietary Blend also possess activities that decrease inflammation

Only one in three people in the United States are of normal weight¹. Unfortunately, many Americans eat too much highly processed food that lacks fiber and has been linked with poor health including obesity^2-4. Obesity is associated with various factors or combinations of factors including genetics, lifestyle, diet, lack of exercise and/or sleep, and certain medical conditions^5,6. Obesity arises as a result of an energy imbalance between calories consumed and calories spent creating an energy surplus, resulting in excess body weight¹. In fact, the processes that cause the accumulation of body fat are influenced by the interaction of genetics and the environment within a complex system that regulates energy balance⁷.

Western diets that are typically low in fiber and high in processed foods have been associated with increased inflammation⁸. Importantly inflammation has been linked with many diseases and health conditions including obesity^9-12. Moreover, low-grade inflammation is also associated with oxidative stress and aging that can lead to impaired insulin signaling and weight gain¹³. Notably, the potent olive polyphenols hydroxytyrosol and oleuropein found in Pinnaclife^® DigestiveHealth with Proprietary Blend have powerful anti-inflammatory and antioxidant activities. Along with these olive polyphenols, Proprietary Blend includes other important ingredients with anti-inflammatory and antioxidant activities like methylsulfonylmethane, N-acetylcysteine, and taurine^14-23.

Obesity is considered part of the metabolic syndrome that often precedes diabetes²⁴, and it is associated with abnormalities in lipid and glucose metabolism as well as oxidative stress²⁵. In addition, it is linked with an increased risk in several diseases including depression and type 2 diabetes that are also linked with chronic inflammation^6,25. In fact, obesity significantly increases the risk of chronic diseases including neurological (Alzheimer’s disease) and cardiovascular diseases, and obesity increases the risk of developing type 2 diabetes by a factor of seven compared to the risk associated with having a normal weight¹.

Pinnaclife^® DigestiveHealth includes a soluble but resistant maltodextrin fiber that is slowly fermented in the colon so that it doesn’t cause the gas and bloating commonly found with equivalent doses of rapidly fermenting fibers like inulin^26,27. Importantly, the resistant maltodextrin found in DigestiveHealth was discovered to significantly reduce body fat accumulation in a clinical trial²⁸. In addition, studies have shown that a higher intake of dietary fiber is associated with a healthier distribution of body fat, and dietary fiber has been shown to increase glucagon-like peptide-1, a gut hormone involved in satiety control, gastric emptying and small intestine transit⁷.

More good news includes the fact that high dietary fiber intake has been associated with lower obesity, cardiovascular disease, stroke, hypertension, and diabetes,^29-31 and large epidemiological studies have consistently demonstrated that dietary fiber is positively associated with favorable outcomes related to weight management. Indeed, the positive effects of fiber on body weight were found in all of the study groups regardless of their baseline body weight (normal, overweight, or obese)⁷. Moreover, the benefits of consuming resistant starch (like maltodextrin), which is capable of influencing the metabolic pathway of glucose has been increasingly recognized³². In fact, resistant maltodextrin (found in DigestiveHealth) was shown to improve risk factors related to metabolic syndrome including hyperglycemia, and dietary fiber was demonstrated to promote gut bacteria that alleviated type 2 diabetes^33,34.

Dietary fiber is an important energy source for bacteria found in the gut. The anaerobic (require the absence of oxygen) bacteria in the colon metabolize complex carbohydrates^35,36 such as dietary fiber like the fiber found in DigestiveHealth, and produce important metabolic products including short chain fatty acids (SCFAs). SCFAs such as butyrate play critical roles in regulating host metabolism, the immune system and intestinal cell proliferation. SCFAs are found in high concentration in the colon where they are used as energy sources for intestinal cells, and they also act as signaling molecules that help regulate intestinal metabolism and inflammation. In fact, butyrate is anti-inflammatory^37,38.

SFCAs are also thought to positively influence body weight regulation by different mechanisms including prolonging satiety, as well as improving insulin sensitivity⁷. In fact, a study of four genetic twin pairs of varying weights found differences in their microbiota with lean individuals exhibiting an increase in bacterial SCFA production³⁹. In addition, dietary fiber was found to increase bacteria that were predominant in lean individuals and decrease bacteria predominant in obese individuals⁷. Moreover, another study of human microbiota correlated obesity with differences in the abundance of two dominant bacterial groups demonstrating that obese individuals in the study had an increased capacity to harvest energy from their diet.

Other studies have also indicated that reduced microbial diversity increases the calories obtained from the diets of obese individuals³⁹. In fact, high levels of gut microbial diversity have been found in healthy individuals in contrast to less healthy individuals with health issues like obesity³⁸. Therefore, it’s important to have a varied diet that includes fiber like the fiber found in DigestiveHealth to promote microbial diversity. In addition, the olive polyphenols hydroxytyrosol and oleuropein found in Proprietary Blend http://www.olivamine .com have been found to convey beneficial effects against obesity⁴⁰. Proprietary Blend DigestiveHealth https://pinnaclife.com/product/digestivehealth-prebiotic-supplement-for-gut-health/ includes impeccably sourced ingredients that have undergone rigorous scientific review to prove we renew, restore, and repair cells.

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