Dietary Fiber and Diabetes Mellitus

Harmanjot Kaur

Professor, School of Hotel Management, Desh Bhagat University, Mandi Gobindgarh, Punjab, India

Dr. Harmanjot Kaur, Professor, School of Hotel Management, Desh Bhagat University, Mandi Gobindgarh, Punjab, India.

Keywords: Dietary Fiber; Health Benefits; Diabetes Mellitus

Abstract

Diabetes mellitus is increasing day by day in the United States. In 2014, approximately 9.3% of the U.S. population was living with diabetes. This number had increased from 8.3% in 2011 unfortunately, 8.1 million (27.8%) of these cases remain undiagnosed. Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) accounts for approximately 90% to 95% of those with diabetes. Diabetes is currently the most common cause of kidney failure, nontraumatic lower-limb amputations, and new cases of blindness in the US. In 2010, diabetes was listed as the seventh leading cause of death in the US. Patients with diabetes are at a 2 to 4 times more risk of stroke and death as compared to those without diabetes. Dietary fibers are defined as polysaccharide components of vegetables which cannot be digested in the small intestine except for a certain limited degradation of pectin. Some of them can be digested in the colon. Structural polysaccharides are represented by cellulose, hemicelluloses and lignin.

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