Protein has shakes, creatine has TikTok, matcha has its perfect green colour, and collagen has an entire industry. Fibre has beans. It is not hard to understand why it lost the marketing contest. Nutritionally, however, it is difficult to find many things that are simultaneously so well studied and so consistently under-represented in modern diets.
Dietary fibre consists of carbohydrates that human digestive enzymes do not fully break down in the small intestine. That sounds like a nutritional failure: we eat something and fail to digest it. That is precisely where much of its value lies.
Different fibres do different things. Some absorb water and form viscous gels that can slow gastric emptying and the absorption of nutrients. Some increase stool bulk and support normal bowel function. A portion reaches the large intestine, where gut bacteria ferment it and produce short-chain fatty acids such as butyrate, acetate and propionate.
The word fibre, therefore, describes an entire family of compounds — not a single vitamin to tick off before the end of the day.
The most compelling evidence comes from the most straightforward level: people who eat more fibre-rich food have better long-term health outcomes in large studies. Systematic reviews and meta-analyses link higher fibre intake with lower risk of cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, colorectal cancer and premature death.
Epidemiology has its limits, of course. People who eat a lot of fibre may differ from those who eat little in other habits as well. But there are also randomised trials showing the effects of specific fibres on LDL cholesterol, glycaemic control, bowel function and other markers. When different types of evidence point in a similar direction, the picture becomes fairly convincing.
The World Health Organization recommends at least around 25 grams of naturally occurring dietary fibre per day for adults. Other guidelines often go higher — around 25 to 30 grams or more, depending on sex, age and energy intake.
That does not sound like much until you consider what a day without vegetables, legumes, whole grains, nuts and whole fruit actually looks like.
A croissant and a coffee have barely started the job. Juice has lost most of the fibre the whole fruit contained. White bread has less than wholegrain versions. A lunch based on meat, cheese and a refined side dish can be delicious — but the gut bacteria have not received a particularly interesting package.
This is why one of the simplest dietary changes is simultaneously the least glamorous: add plants you have to chew.
Oats are an excellent example. They contain beta-glucan, a soluble fibre with well-documented effects on lowering LDL cholesterol when consumed in sufficient quantities. Legumes deliver fibre alongside protein. Berries, apples, pears, vegetables, seeds and nuts add different types of fibre — which is useful precisely because the microbiome does not thrive on a single ingredient either.
Avocado is also a solid source of fibre. A useful reminder that you do not need a product with a giant HIGH FIBER label if the meal is already built from the right ingredients.
And what about the microbiome?
Here, marketing again runs slightly ahead of the science. We know that gut microorganisms ferment certain fibres and that diet influences the microbiome. We also know that the short-chain fatty acids produced by fermentation are biologically active and important for the gut environment. But the idea that we can look at a single stool analysis, identify an ideal microbiome, and then optimise it with one powder is still far from routine, robust clinical science — further than the advertising suggests.
The most boring advice is, once again, the best: eat a diverse range of plant fibre sources.
Fibre has one property that is particularly interesting in discussions of glycaemic response. Viscous soluble fibres can slow digestion and absorption, and fibre-rich food often arrives in a less processed structure. This is why a whole grain and flour made from the same plant do not necessarily produce the same response — and why whole fruit and juice are not metabolically identical simply because they come from the same orange.
Context matters here too. If someone currently eating very little fibre suddenly doubles their intake with large quantities of bran and legumes, the digestive system may express its opinion loudly. A gradual increase and adequate fluids are a considerably more comfortable strategy.
At VERA, we do not think of fibre as an add-on to be sprinkled over a dish to give it wellness status. It makes far more sense for it to come from the meal itself: oats, fruit, vegetables, avocado, nuts, seeds and other whole ingredients.
That is not dramatic enough for an advertisement.
But there is a certain elegance in the fact that one of the most useful things we can do for our diet is not a new supplement, a sensor or a protocol.
Perhaps we simply need to eat a plant more often.
Try it at VERA — specialty café and wellness bistro, Nikole Spasića 4, Stari Grad, Belgrade.
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