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And Most Teens Don't Consume
Enough 'Roughage,' study found.
Teens who don’t eat enough fiber tend to have bigger bellies
and higher levels of inflammatory factors in their blood, both major risk
factors for cardiovascular disease and diabetes, researchers report.
The study of 559 adolescents age 14-18 from Augusta, Ga.,
showed they consumed on average about one-third of the daily recommended amount
of fiber, said Dr. Norman Pollock, bone biologist at the Medical College of
Georgia and the Institute of Public and Preventive Health at Georgia Health
Sciences University.
Eat More Fruits, Vegetables
and Whole Grains
“The simple message is adolescents need to eat more fruits,
vegetables and whole grains,” Pollock said. “We need to push recommendations to
increase fiber intake.”
Only about 1 percent of the young participants consumed the
recommended daily intake of 28 grams for females and 38 grams for males. The
study appears the first to correlate dietary fiber intake with inflammatory
markers in adolescents.
“Better understanding the relationships and risks of diet,
inactivity and obesity in children and adolescents is particularly critical at
a time when about 1 in 3 is overweight or obese,” co-first author Dr. Samip
Parikh said. That’s nearly triple the rate since 1963, according to the
American Heart Association.
Low-Fiber, Visceral Fat
and Inflammation
Low-fiber consumers in the study were more likely to have
more of the visceral fat found in and around major organs in their abdominal
cavity. They also tended to have higher levels of inflammatory factors, such as
immune cells called cytokines, as well as lower levels of protective
adiponection, a protein secreted by fat that helps the body use glucose and
fight inflammation. Interestingly, adiponectin levels tend to drop when fat
becomes excessive and obesity is generally considered a chronic inflammatory
state.
How Fiber Helps
Exactly how fiber helps stave off some of these unhealthy
consequences is not completely clear, Parikh said. Hypotheses include increased
bulk in the stool causing digested food to spend less time in the
gastrointestinal tract and the ability of fiber to improve insulin sensitivity,
potentially reducing visceral adiposity. More indirectly, fiber tends to speed
satiety, potentially decreasing total food and caloric consumption, Parikh
said. It may also help absorb and eliminate inflammatory factors.
Belly Fat Exacerbates
Ill Effects of High-Fructose Consumption
While belly fat and high inflammatory factors are inexorably
linked to bad consequences such as heart disease and often occur together, one
did not directly cause the other in this instance, Pollock noted. He was
co-first author earlier this year of a study on the same group of adolescents
that showed high-fructose consumption correlated with higher blood pressure,
fasting glucose, insulin resistance and inflammatory factors as well as lower
levels of cardiovascular protectors such as such as HDL cholesterol and
adiponectin. These dangerous associations were exacerbated by belly fat. “There is some other mechanism (for increased
inflammatory factors associated with low-fiber intake),” Pollock noted.
The scientists acknowledge getting adolescents to eat more
fiber can be tough, not only because of their penchant for processed foods but
because side effects can include intestinal gas, bloating and diarrhea. They
are pursuing funding to develop more palatable forms of fiber that could be sprinkled*,
for example, on the low-fiber foods most adolescents regularly consume.
Low-Fiber Intake, Higher
Levels of Overall Body Fat
Study participants were part of a larger study assessing the
relationship between activity and diet. The scientists noted that low-fiber
intake also was linked to higher levels of overall body fat but only in
females. A high-fiber diet seemed to reduce general body fat in males.
###
The above story is based on the June 1, 2012 news release by
the Georgia Health Sciences University.
The research has been Epublished in the Journal of Clinical
Endocrinology and Metabolism: Parikh S, Pollock NK, Bhagatwala J, Guo DH, Gutin
B, Zhu H, Dong Y. Adolescent Fiber
Consumption Is Associated with Visceral Fat and Inflammatory Markers. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2012 May 16.
Epub ahead of print as doi:10.1210/jc.2012-1784
Click HERE to read the complete paper.
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