Soluble Fiber Boosts Immunity

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Soluble fiber, found in apples, nuts and oats, reduces inflammation that is associated with obesity-related diseases and helps strengthen the immune system, according to a new study conducted by the University of Illinois and published in the May 2010 issue of Brain, Behavior and Immunity. Gregory Freund, a professor in the University of Illinois College of Medicine and faculty member in the College of Agriculture, Consumer and Environmental Sciences Division of Nutritional Sciences, states that soluble fiber changes immune cells from pro-inflammatory to anti-inflammatory. This occurs, according to Freund, because soluble fiber increases production of the anti-inflammatory protein interleukin-4.

In Freund's study, laboratory mice were fed a diet, where the only difference was the presence of either soluble or insoluble fiber. After six weeks, the animals fed the soluble diet became only half as sick when illness was induced than the group fed insoluble fiber. Freund wonders if a soluble fiber diet could help offset some of the negative aspects of a high fat diet, effectively immunizing obese people against the inflammatory effects of excess weight.

Christina Sherry, who also worked on the study, points out that the study showed researchers two important points, the first is the positive effect soluble fiber has on inflammation, and the second, that it doesn’t take a pharmacological dosage of soluble fiber to gain these benefits.

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