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Role of Fiber in the Diet of the Elderly

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Nutrition, Aging, and the Elderly

Part of the book series: Human Nutrition ((HUNU,volume 6))

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Abstract

The most common description of dietary fiber uses this term to refer to remnants of plant cells that are not digested by the enzymes of the human alimentary tract (Trowell, 1974). This is a convenient but somewhat misleading description. The term dietary fiber encompasses a variety of substances of different chemical composition and diverse physiological function. In the strictest definition, dietary fiber can be divided into three categories: cellulose, the principal fibrillar component of the plant cell wall; noncellulosic polysaccharides, including pectic substances and hemicelluloses, which form the cell wall matrix; and lignin, an encrusting substance present in the mature plant wall. However, the definition of fiber has been broadened to include plant gums such as guar or tragacanth, agar, and some chemically modified materials such as methylcellulose. All of these substances except lignin are carbohydrate in nature, and all except lignin are degradable (partially or totally) by colonic microflora. The degradation products include hydrogen, methane, carbon dioxide, and short-chain fatty acids—acetic, propionic, and butyric.

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  1. The Wistar Institute of Anatomy and Biology, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 19104, USA

    David Kritchevsky

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  1. David Kritchevsky
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  1. USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging, Tufts University, Boston, Massachusetts, 02111, USA

    Hamish N. Munro

  2. National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA

    Darla E. Danford

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Kritchevsky, D. (1989). Role of Fiber in the Diet of the Elderly. In: Munro, H.N., Danford, D.E. (eds) Nutrition, Aging, and the Elderly. Human Nutrition, vol 6. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-2537-4_11

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