Skip to main content

The Dietary Fibre Hypothesis: A Historical Perspective

  • Chapter

Part of the book series: ILSI Human Nutrition Reviews ((ILSI HUMAN))

Abstract

Most major scientific advances have not developed in a vacuum but have had their foundations in the body of scientific knowledge derived from previous work. This is particularly true of the dietary fibre hypothesis (Walker, 1974; Burkitt, 1983; Burkitt and Trowell, 1975) whose foundations were laid in three major strands of scientific endeavour. A historical account of the dietary fibre hypothesis must, therefore, start with an account of the research that provided the base from which the hypothesis emerged in the early 1970s.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.

Buying options

Chapter
USD   29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD   39.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD   54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Learn about institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  • Association of Official Analytical Chemists (1980) Official methods of analysis, 11th edn, Horwitz W (ed) AOAC, Washington DC, p 129

    Google Scholar 

  • Atwater WO (1900) Discussion of the terms digestibility, availability and fuel value. Twelfth Annual Report of the Storrs Agricultural Experimental Station, p 69

    Google Scholar 

  • Bishop CT (1964) Gas-liquid chromatography of carbohydrate derivatives. Adv Carb Chem 19:95–147

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • British Nutrition Foundation (1990) Complex carbohydrates in foods. Chapman and Hall, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Burkitt DP (1971a) The aetiology of appendicitis. Br J Surg 58:695–699

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Burkitt DP (1971b) Epidemiology of cancer of colon and rectum. Cancer 28:3–13

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Burkitt DP (1973) The role of refined carbohydrate in large bowel behaviour and disease. Plant Foods for Man 1:5–9

    Google Scholar 

  • Burkitt DP (1983) The development of the fibre hypothesis. In: Birch GG, Parker KJ (eds) Dietary fibre. Applied Science Publishers, London, pp 21–27

    Google Scholar 

  • Burkitt DP, Trowell HC (eds) (1975) Refined carbohydrate foods and disease; some implications of dietary fibre. Academic Press, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Carpenter KJ (1986) The history of scurvy and vitamin C. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  • Cleave TL, Cambell GD, Painter NS (1969) Diabetes, coronary thrombosis and the saccharine disease, 2nd edn. Wright, Bristol

    Google Scholar 

  • Cowgill GR, Anderson WE (1932) Laxative effects of wheat bran and washed bran in healthy men. A comparative study. JAMA 98:1866–1875

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cummings JH (1973) Dietary fibre. Progress report. Gut 14:69–81

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Cummings JH, Southgate DAT, Branch W, Houston H, Jenkins DJA, James WPT (1978) Colonic response to dietary fibre from carrot, cabbage, apple, bran and gaur gum. Lancet i:5–9

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cummings JH, Southgate DAT, Branch W et al. (1979) The digestion of pectin in the human gut and its effect on calcium absorption and large bowel function. Br J Nutr 41:477–485

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Dische Z (1955) New color reactions for determination of sugars in polysaccharides. In: Glick D (ed) Methods of biochemical analysis, vol II. Interscience, New York, pp 313–358

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Drasar BS, Hill MW (1972) Intestinal bacteria and cancer. Am J Clin Nutr 25:1399–1404

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Drasar BS, Irving D (1973) Environmental factors and cancer of the colon and breast. Br J Cancer 27:167–172

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Durnin JVGA (1961) The availability of nutrients in diets containing differing quantities of unavailable carbohydrate: a study on young and elderly men and women. I. General description and proportionate loss of calories. Proc Nutr Soc 20:ii

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Eastwood MA (1972) Vegetable dietary fibre — fad or farago? Van de Berghs and Jorgens Nutrition Award

    Google Scholar 

  • Eastwood MA, Girdwood RH (1968) Lignin: a bile salt sequestering agent. Lancet ii: 1170–1172

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Eastwood MA, Fisher N, Greenwood CT, Hutchinson JB (1974) Perspectives on the bran hypothesis. Lancet i: 1029–1033

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fraser JR, Brendon-Bravo M, Holmes DC (1956) The proximate analysis of wheat flour carbohydrates. I. Methods and scheme of analysis. J Sci Food Agric 7:577–589

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Glicksman M (1969) Gum technology in the food industry. Academic Press, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Haber GB, Heaton KW, Murphy D, Burroughs IF (1977) Depletion and disruption of dietary fibre, effects on satiety, plasma glucose and serum insulin. Lancet ii:679–682

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Heaton KW (1973a) Gallstones and dietary carbohydrates. Plant Foods for Man 1:33–44

    Google Scholar 

  • Heaton KW (1973b) Food fibre as an obstacle to energy intake. Lancet ii: 1418–1421

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Heaton KW (1991) Concepts of dietary fibre. In: Southgate DAT et al. (eds) Dietary fibre: Chemical and biological aspects. Royal Society of Chemistry, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  • Hellendoorn EW (1969) Intestinal effects following ingestion of beans. Food Technol 23:87–92

    Google Scholar 

  • Hellendoorn EW (1973) Physiological importance of indigestible carbohydrates in human nutrition. Voeding 34:618–635

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hellendoorn EW (1978) Some critical observations in relation to ‘dietary fibre’, the methods for its determination and the current hypotheses for the explanation of its physiological action. Voeding 39:230–235

    Google Scholar 

  • Henneberg W, Stohmann F (1860) Beiträge zur Begründung einer rationellen Fütterung der Wiederkäuer, I. Braunschweig

    Google Scholar 

  • Hipsley EH (1953) Dietary “fibre” and pregnancy toxaemia. Br Med J ii:420–422

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hungate RE (1966) The rumen and its microbes. Academic Press, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • James WPT, Southgate DAT (1975) Bran and blood lipids. Lancet i:800

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jenkins DJA, Goff DV, Leeds AR et al. (1976) Unabsorbable carbohydrates and diabetes: decreased postprandial hyperglycaemia. Lancet ii: 172–174

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jermyn MA, Isherwood FA (1956) Changes in the cell wall of the pear during ripening. Biochem J 64:123–132

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Keys A (1970) Coronary heart disease in seven countries. Circulation [Suppl] 41:1

    Google Scholar 

  • Keys A, Grande F, Anderson JT (1961) Fiber and pectin in the diet and serum cholesterol concentration in man. Proc Soc Exp Biol Med 106:555–558

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kritchevsky D, Story WA (1974) Binding of bile salts in vitro by non-nutritive fiber. J Nutr 104:458–462

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Livesey G (1990) The energy values of unavailable carbohydrates and diets: an enquiry and analysis. Am J Clin Nutr 51:617–637

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Macy IG (1942) Nutrition and chemical growth in childhood, vol. I, Evaluation. C. C. Thomas, Springfield, Illinois

    Google Scholar 

  • Macy IG, Hummel FC, Shepherd ML (1943) Value of complex carbohydrates in diets of normal children. Am J Dis Child 65:195–206

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Mangold DE (1934) The digestion and utilisation of crude fibre. Nutr Abstr Rev 3:647–656

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Maynard LA (1944) The Atwater system of calculating the caloric value of diets. J Nutr 28:443–452

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • McCance RA, Lawrence RD (1929) The carbohydrate content of foods. HMSO, London (Special report series of the Medical Research Council, no. 135)

    Google Scholar 

  • McCance RA, Widdowson EM (1940) The chemical composition of foods. HMSO, London (Special report series of the Medical Research Council, no. 235)

    Google Scholar 

  • McCance RA, Widdowson EM, Shackleton LRB (1936) The nutritive value of fruits, vegetables and nuts. HMSO, London (Special report series of the Medical Research Council, no. 213)

    Google Scholar 

  • McCollum EV (1957) A history of nutrition. Houghton Mifflin, Boston, Mass

    Google Scholar 

  • McNeil NI, Cummings JH, James WPT (1978) Short chain fatty acid absorption by the human large intestine. Gut 19:819–822

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Medical Research Council and Agricultural Research Council (1974) Food and nutrition research. Report of the Neuberger committee. HMSO, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Merrill AL, Watt BK (1955) Energy value of foods basis and derivation. US Dept. Agric, Washington (US Department of Agriculture, Handbook no. 74)

    Google Scholar 

  • Norman AG (1937) The biochemistry of cellulose, the polyuronides [etc]. Oxford University Press, Oxford

    Google Scholar 

  • O’Dwyer MH (1926) The hemicelluloses of beech wood. Biochem J 20:656–664

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Painter NS, Burkitt DP (1971) Diverticular disease of the colon: A deficiency disease of Western civilisation. Br Med J ii:450–454

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Paul AA, Southgate DAT (1970) Revision of “The composition of foods”, some views of dietitians. Nutrition 24:21–24

    Google Scholar 

  • Paul AA, Southgate DAT (1978) McCance and Widdowsons’ The composition of foods, 4th edn. HMSO, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Prynne CJ, Southgate DAT (1979) The effects of a supplement of dietary fibre on faecal excretion by human subjects. Br J Nutr 31:495–503

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rubner M (1917a) Die Verwertung aufgeschlossenen Strohes für die Ernährung des Menschen. Arch Anat Physiol 74

    Google Scholar 

  • Rubner M (1917b) Untersuchungen über Vollkornbrot. Arch Anat Physiol 74:245–372

    Google Scholar 

  • Southgate DAT (1969a) Determination of carbohydrates in foods. I. Available carbohydrates. J Sci Food Agric 20:326–330

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Southgate DAT (1969b) Determination of carbohydrates in foods. II. Unavailable carbohydrates. J Sci Food Agric 20:331–335

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Southgate DAT (1973) Dietary fibre. Plant Foods for Man 1:45–47

    Google Scholar 

  • Southgate DAT (1975a) Fibre in nutrition. Bibl Nutr Dieta 22:109–124

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Southgate DAT (1975b) Fiber and other unavailable carbohydrates and energy effects in the diet. In: White PL, Selvey N (eds) Proceedings of Western Hemisphere nutrition congress IV. Publishing Sciences Group, Acton, Mass, pp 51–55

    Google Scholar 

  • Southgate DAT (1976) The chemistry of dietary fiber. In: Spiller GA, Amen RJ (eds) Fiber in human nutrition. Plenum Press, New York, pp 31–72

    Google Scholar 

  • Southgate DAT (1981) Use of the Southgate method for unavailable carbohydrates in the measurement of dietary fiber. In: James WPT, Theander O (eds) The analysis of dietary fiber. Dekker, New York, pp 1–19

    Google Scholar 

  • Southgate DAT (1989) The role of the gut flora in the digestion of starches and sugars: with special reference to their role in the metabolism of the host, including energy and vitamin metabolism. In: Dobbing J (ed) Dietary starches and sugars in man: a comparison. Springer, London, pp 67–83

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Southgate DAT, Durnin JVGA (1970) Calorie conversion factors. An experimental re-assessment of the factors used in the calculation of the energy value of human diets. Br J Nutr 24:517–535

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Southgate DAT, Penson JM (1983) Testing the dietary fibre hypothesis. In: Birch CG, Parker KJ (eds) Dietary fibre. Applied Science Publishers, London, pp 1–19

    Google Scholar 

  • Southgate DAT, Bailey B, Collinson E, Walker AF (1976) A guide to calculating intakes of dietary fibre. J Hum Nutr 30:303–313

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Stephen AM, Cummings JH (1980) Mechanism of action of dietary fibre in the human colon. Nature 284: 283–284

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Thomas M (1964) Die Nähr und Ballastoffe der Getreidemehle in ihrer Bedeutung für die Brotnahrung. Wissenschaftliche Verlagsgesellschaft, Stuttgart

    Google Scholar 

  • Thornber JP, Northcote DH (1961) Changes in the chemical composition of a cambial cell during its differentiation into xylem and phloem tissues in trees. Major Components. Biochem J 81:449–454

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Trowell HC (1960) Non-infective disease in Africa. Edward Arnold, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Trowell HC (1972a) Ischemic heart disease and dietary fibre. Am J Clin Nutr 25:926–932

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Trowell HC (1972b) Dietary fibre and coronary heart disease. Rev Eur Etud Clin Biol 17:345–349

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Trowell HC (1973) Dietary fibre, coronary heart disease and diabetes mellitus. Plant Foods for Man 1:11–16

    Google Scholar 

  • Trowell HC (1985) Dietary fibre: a paradigm. In: Trowell H et al. (eds) Dietary fibre, fibre-depleted foods and disease. Academic Press, London, pp 1–20

    Google Scholar 

  • Trowell H, Godding E, Spiller G, Briggs G (1978) Fiber bibliographies and terminology. Am J Clin Nutr 31:1489–1490

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Van Soest PJ (1963) Use of detergents in the analysis of fibrous feeds. II. A rapid method for the determination of fiber and lignin. J Assoc Off Analyt Chem 46:829–835

    Google Scholar 

  • Van Soest PJ (1966) Non-nutritive residues: A system of analysis for the replacement of crude fiber. J Assoc Off Analyt Chem 49:546–551

    Google Scholar 

  • Van Soest PJ, McQueen RW (1973) The chemistry and estimation of fibre. Proc Nutr Soc 32:123–130

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Van Soest PJ, Wine RH (1967) Use of detergents in the analysis of fibrous feeds. IV. Determination of plant cell-wall constituents. J Assoc Off Analyt Chem 50:50–55

    Google Scholar 

  • Van Soest PJ, Wine RH (1968) Determination of lignin and cellulose in acid-detergent fiber with permanganate. J Assoc Off Analyt Chem 52:780–785

    Google Scholar 

  • Walker ARP (1956) Some aspects of nutritional research in South Africa. Nutr Rev 14:321–324

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Walker ARP (1974) Dietary fibre and the patterns of disease. Ann Intern Med 80:663–664

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Walker DM (1959) A note on the composition of normal-acid fibre. J Sci Food Agric 10:415–418

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Widdowson EM, McCance RA (1935) The available carbohydrates of fruits. Determination of glucose, fructose, sucrose and starch. Biochem J 29:151–156

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Williams RD, Olmsted WH (1935) A biochemical method for determining indigestible residue (crude fiber) in faeces: lignin, cellulose and non-water soluble hemicelluloses. J Biol Chem 108:653–666

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Williams RD, Olmsted WH (1936) The effect of cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin on the stool: a contribution to the study of laxation in man. J Nutr 11:433–449

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Williams RD, Wicks L, Bierman HR, Olmsted WH (1940) Carbohydrate values of fruits and vegetables. J Nutr 19:593–604

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Trowell HC (1974) Definitions of fibre. Lancet i:503

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Trowell HC (1975) Refined carbohydrate foods and fibre. In: Burkitt DP, Trowell H (eds) Refined carbohydrate foods and disease. Academic Press, London, pp 23–41

    Google Scholar 

  • Trowell H (1976) Definition of dietary fiber and hypotheses that it is a protective factor in certain diseases. Am J Clin Nutr 29:417–427

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Trowell H, Southgate DAT, Wolever TMS, Leeds AR, Gassull MA, Jenkins DJA (1976) Dietary fibre redefined. Lancet i:967

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Authors

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 1992 Springer-Verlag London Limited

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Southgate, D.A.T. (1992). The Dietary Fibre Hypothesis: A Historical Perspective. In: Schweizer, T.F., Edwards, C.A. (eds) Dietary Fibre — A Component of Food. ILSI Human Nutrition Reviews. Springer, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4471-1928-9_1

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4471-1928-9_1

  • Publisher Name: Springer, London

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4471-1930-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4471-1928-9

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

Publish with us

Policies and ethics