Decades of research have connected increased fiber consumption to a wealth of health benefits. The range is as comprehensive as heart health, reduced cancer risk, better blood sugar management, lower cholesterol, mental well-being, cognitive health, and even better dental health and reduced risk of dementia.

Looking at the position fibers and gums are playing in everyday foods and beverages reveals product developers paying closer attention to these key ingredients for their dual functions as both texturants and nutraceuticals. This has become especially evident where those two functions merge—in plant-based products designed to mimic meat and dairy.

EverGrain Ingredients, a barley fiber and protein ingredient company backed by Anheuser-Busch InBev, offers ingredients that aim to enable a new benchmark for limited water use, emissions, and land use while ensuring better nutrition and taste. 

Mounting research into causes of dementia and cognitive decline have produced the recognition that two of the potentially modifiable risk factors into these conditions are diet and exercise. In a recent study at King’s College, London 418 adults age 65 and up were tested every two to three years over a 12-year period. Results revealed that cognitive decline and Alzheimer’s Disease were linked to levels of neural stem cell death. Importantly, underlying which was low levels of vitamin D, carotenoids, and lipids

Americans still are not meeting the recommended intake levels for dietary fiber, a nutritional failure that can lead to the development of a number of health issues down the road. The shortfall is so critical that the new “Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2020-2025” has designated dietary fiber as “a dietary component of public health concern.”

Ingredients that affect gut health are characterized as prebiotics, probiotics, synbiotics, and newly defined “postbiotics.” Ongoing research is elucidating the mechanisms by which these ingredients confer health benefits, demonstrating how trending ingredients such as fiber affect the gut microbiome on a molecular level, by interaction with microorganisms either directly or within intestinal cells. 

As consumers seek healthier options and greater convenience in prepared and packaged foods, gums and fibers are receiving new recognition as important ingredients for health and biological functions as well as stability and texture. Fibers and gums often provide added health benefits — including improvements in blood sugar regulation, weight loss, and gut health — while lending texture and structure to foods and beverages.