Dietary Fiber, Fruit and Vegetable Consumption and Health (eBook)

Fruits are an excellent source of essential vitamins, minerals, and dietary fiber in the human diet. They are also a rich source of secondary metabolites that are proving to play an important role in the protection against numerous chronic diseases. These substances are almost ubiquitous in plant-derived foods and inherently have more subtle effects than nutrients. This book explores the different processing methods used in the food industry, which may modify their contents, structure, and biological activity in humans. In addition, the relationships between dietary fibers and gut motility are explored since dietary fibers carry out many physiological functions in the gastrointestinal tract aimed at health preservation. This book also summarizes recent progressions on the use of in vitro models to study health effects of dietary fibres and other nutrients using in vitro colon cell models. In addition, epidemiological studies evidence that plant-based food play a crucial role in the prevention of diseases. The authors highlight the potential of tropical and temperate fruits as sources of dietary fiber with associated antioxidant compounds. Other chapters in this book examine the fruit and vegetable consumption, physical activity levels and body mass index among teenagers, explore new dietary strategies to reduce cardiovascular disease (CVD) and discuss the potential of using alternative dietary assessment methods for researches of dietary fiber colorectal cancer.