Because of its growing prevalence in Western countries, the
metabolic syndrome, a common metabolic disorder that clusters a constellation of abnormalities, including
central obesity,
hypertension,
dyslipidemia and
insulin resistance, is emerging as one of the most important public health problems in the world, taking into account that it is a major risk factor mainly for
type 2 diabetes and
cardiovascular diseases, and also for many types of
cancer. Although the pathogenesis of this syndrome is complex and not fully understood,
obesity and
insulin resistance, accompanied by an altered profile of number of
hormones and
cytokines produced by the adipose tissue, seem to be the main causative agents. A prime therapeutic approach to the prevention and treatment of this syndrome involves lifestyle changes. Among
dietary modifications,
dietary fiber intake could play an interesting role in the management of
metabolic syndrome through different mechanisms related to its dietary sources, specific chemical structure and physical properties, or fermentability in the gut. According to all of these variables, the different types of
dietary fibers have been reported to take part in the control of
body weight,
glucose and
lipid homeostasis,
insulin sensitivity and in the regulation of many
inflammation markers involved in the pathogenesis of
metabolic syndrome, and which are also considered to be among its features.