The Role of the Microbiome in the Response to Dietary Fibers Intake During Intermittent Fasting

Dietary fibers are generally not degraded by the endogenous digestive enzymes, but rather by the complex ensemble of microorganisms that reside in the human gut \[1\]. This ensemble, collectively known as the human gut microbiome, plays a key role in breaking down, fermenting, and ultimately converting such dietary fibers into a variety of beneficial metabolites, including most notably, short chain fatty acids (SCFA). These end products of fibers' fermentation affect host metabolism, immunity, and physiology, and have been implicated in multiple diseases including obesity, metabolic syndrome, diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases. Intermediate fasting, and in particular circadian intermediate fasting (i.e. 16 hours of fasting followed by 8 hours of allowed eating), has been shown to have positive associations with multiple health conditions as obesity, diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular disease, cancers, and neurologic disorders In this study, we will try to answer open questions utilizing the long fasting period during the day to investigate the isolated effect of dietary fiber consumption, uncovering the degradation effect, but not the bulking effect, on the microbiome and the host physiology, and in particular its glucose response.