Dietary Fiber

Acknowledgment................................................................................................................ 653

References .......................................................................................................................... 653

It is perhaps unusual for a single nutritional concept to have such an immediate and

widespread impact as the dietary fiber hypothesis formulated and promulgated by Burkitt

and Trowell in the early 1970s [1-4]. Since that time belief in the beneficial effects of a high

plant fiber intake has formed part of a growing awareness of nutritional issues among health

professionals and the general public, which has led to modified patterns of food consumption

in many industrialized countries. Public health authorities now strongly advocate an increase

in fiber consumption, and most have issued or backed recommendations specifying the

amount that should be included in a daily diet [5-7].