Vegetable as A Source of Dietary Fiber for Helath

Ni Nyoman Laksmi Lestari Sabudi (171610101123)

Supervisor:
Dr. drg. Masniari Novita, M. Kes.
Email: novita_masniari@yahoo.co.id
 Vegetable as A Source of Dietary Fiber for Health

Ni Nyoman Laksmi Lestari Sabudi

171610101123

Supervisor: Dr. drg. Masniari Novita, M.Kes.

Email: novita_masniari@yahoo.co.id

Abstract
Dietary fiber is a part of plants that can be consumed by humans. Dietary fiber is composed of
carbohydrates that are resistant to the digestive process and absorption in human’s small intestine and
go through partial or complete fermentation in the colon. So dietary fiber is a kind of food that cannot
be hydrolyzed by digestive enzymes. Vegetables are a source of dietary fiber that is very easily found
in food ingredients and a source of vitamins and minerals, antioxidants, and fiber. Lately, there has
been a change in the pattern of food consumption in Indonesia cause consumption of vegetables in
reduced, followed by changes in disease patterns that cause mortality and morbidity in the community,
marked by changes in the pattern of infectious diseases into degenerative and metabolic diseases. Most
people are so busy, thats why they consume fast food, and there is a change in diet from high
carbohydrate, high fiber and low fat to low carbohydrate and low fiber consumption patterns, high in
fat and high in protein. This is what causes high cases of diseases such as coronary heart disease, colon
cancer, and other degenerative diseases in Indonesia. Dietary fiber is also beneficial for health, which
functions to control weight or obesity, prevention of diabetes, gastrointestinal disorders, colon cancer,
and reduce blood cholesterol levels and cardiovascular disease.

Keywords: vegetable, dietary fiber, health

Introduction
Vegetables are ones of the dietary fiber sources beside fruits, which is found in some
food that commonly consumed by Indonesian people. This can be proven when there is a
menu of vegetables in almost every restaurant both raw as fresh vegetables or already
processed into various kinds of processed dishes such as stir-fried kale, eggplant balado,
vegetable soup, and so forth. Vegetables have various health benefits such as a source of
vitamins, antioxidants, and fiber.

Recently, there have been changes in the pattern of food consumption in Indonesia,
which has led to reduced consumption of vegetables and fruits in almost all parts of
Indonesia. Changes in dietary fiber consumption patterns tend to cause changes in the pattern
of infectious diseases into degenerative and metabolic diseases. Changes in diet can occur
because most people have a busy life that causes them to have little time to sort out nutritious
foods for health so they choose to eat fast food. This change in diet, occurs from a diet that is
high in carbohydrates, high in fiber, and low in fat to a low carbohydrate, low fiber, and high
fat consumption pattern (Sujonan, 1993). This is what triggers high cases of diseases such as
coronary heart disease, colon cancer, and other degenerative diseases. Based on observations
of British researchers (Burkitt and Trowell) in the 1970s stated that there is a relationship
between consumption of food fiber with a tendency to the emergence of various types of
diseases.

Theory

Vegetables are one source of dietary fiber. Dietary fiber according to Deddy Muchtadi
(2001); Jansen Silalahi and Netty Hutagalung (2005) is a food derived from plants composed
of carbohydrates and can not be hydrolyzed by enzymes in the digestive system. According to
Anik Herminingsih (2010) dietary fiber is parts of plants that can not be hydrolyzed by
enzymes in the digestive system include hemicellulose, cellulose, lignin, oligosaccharide,
pectin, gum, and waxy coating. The sources of dietary fiber can be obtained from vegetables,
cereals, fruits, and nuts.

Vegetables have a very important role in human survival, namely as a source of

vitamins and minerals, a source of antioxidants, and a source of fiber. The vitamins contained
in the vegetables are needed to help the reactions that take place in the body. Vitamins will be
useful for health if the portion in the body is balanced, if the portion is lack or excess of the
vitamin will interfere with the ongoing reactions in the body. Vitamins can not be synthesized
by the body, therefore, it takes such as vegetables that can help complete the daily vitamin
needs of the body. Vitamins in vegetables are water soluble and fat soluble. Vitamins B and C
are water soluble vitamins so that if the intake of vitamins B and C in the body is excess, they
will be dissolved and removed from the body. Fat-soluble vitamins are vitamins A, D, E, and
K, these vitamins will be digested, absorbed, and stored in the body by fat. Vegetables as a
source of vitamins include carrots, tomatoes, and others.

Beside as a source of vitamins, vegetables are also useful as a source of antioxidants.

Antioxidants are compounds that are able to break the reaction of free radicals in the body and
protect the body's cells from free radical damage. Vegetables are natural antioxidants in terms
of the source. The forms of antioxidants that can be found in vegetables include beta-carotene,
lycopene, vitamin C, vitamin E, zinc, selenium, flavonoids, and etc.
 This vitamin requirement is relatively small, but its role in the body is very important,
namely as a regulator, maintainer, and growth substance. All plants contain fiber with
different compositions. Dietary fiber plays a role for health because it can bind water to form
a remnant digestive mass that allows more regular movement in the digestive tract. The ability
of fibers to absorb sugar and LDL cholesterol also has the potential to reduce the risk of heart
disease and diabetes (Rodriguez, 2006; Dhingra et al., 2012).

Discussion

Fiber can be grouped based on solubility and function. Based on the solubility, fiber
is divided into two, those are dietary fiber dissolved in water and dietary fiber is not dissolved
in water. Soluble dietary fiber consists of pectin and gums found in vegetables and fruits,
whereas insoluble dietary fibers are composed of cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin
commonly found in cereal, nuts, and vegetables. In the digestion process by the stomach,
groups of vegetables consumed in the raw state will be longer in the stomach when compared
with the vegetables consumed in a state already processed, while the nuts will be longer in the
stomach than the vegetables that consumed in a raw state because it contains more fat. Based
on the function, fiber is divided into three, those are (1) structural polysaccharides commonly
found in the cell wall of cellulose, hemicellulose, and pektat; (2) structural non-
polysaccharides composed mostly of lignin; and (3) non-structural polysaccharides including
gums and agar.
Indonesia has the largest commodity of various vegetable production as the daily
fiber requirement of the body, but the increasement of society activity causes the low
consumption of fiber. The need for fiber consumption averaged between 9.9 - 10.7 grams /
day (Jahari and Sumarno, 2002 in Olwin Nainggolan and Cornelis Adimunca, 2005). Dietary
fiber has many benefits for health including:
1. Prevent gastrointestinal disorders
Gastrointestinal disorders can be prevented by the consumption of dietary fiber
such as vegetables in sufficient amount, with the consumption of vegetables will give
shape and can increase the water content in the feces so only with low muscle pressure
can remove the feces from the body due to its soft shape and not hard.
2. Prevent diverticular disease
Diverticular disease is one of the gastrointestinal disorders that occur in the
intestine due to the formation of small but hard feces and increased pressure on the
intestinal surface. The disease is characterized by the presence of injuries and lumps in
 the intestine. Consumption of fiber affects the texture of feces, if the fiber consumed
in sufficient amount then the feces removed will be large and soft so that the pressure
required to remove the feces from the body is low, whereas if the fiber consumed in
small amounts, the feces will be small and hard so that the high muscles pressure
given to remove it.
3. Treat diabetes
Dietary fiber has the ability to absorb water and bind glucose, this can affect
the glucose availability in the blood. In addition, a diet with enough fiber can also lead
to the complexity of carbohydrates and fiber, so that the carbohydrate digestibility is
reduced. It is able to reduce the rise in glucose in the blood and make it controlled.
4. Control weight or obesity (obesity)
Obesity is common because of increased consumption of calories in foods or
beverages. Calories derived from carbohydrates such as starch and sugar, protein, and
fat will be oxidized by the body into energy. The more consumption of carbohydrates,
proteins, and fats the energy generated will also be more and more. Therefore, if the
consumption of carbohydrates, proteins, and many fats and energy that is formed
unused either because of excess or not used for physical activity, can cause energy is
stored in the form of fat as energy reserves in the body. This is what causes increased
opportunities for obesity (Ranakusuma, 1990).
Consumption of foods containing fiber will cause a person to feel full quickly.
Fiber also causes a person to take a long time to chew, saliva and stomach fluids are
also increasing in number. This situation causes the stomach feel full longer. Dietary
fiber can also reduce the absorption of carbohydrates, proteins, and fats, so the amount
that is oxidized into energy will be reduced.
5. Prevent colon cancer
Colon cancer can occur due to decreased consumption of dietary fiber, in the
United States increased consumption of meat, poultry, and fish and decreased
consumption of dietary fiber such as potatoes and cereals resulted in the incidence of
colon cancer. The cause of colon cancer is due to contact between certain components
in the carcinogenic diet with intestinal microflora. If these compounds come into
contact with intestinal mucosal cells for a long time, cancer cells may develop. The
role of fiber in the prevention of colon cancer is the fiber affect the intestinal
microflora so that carcinogen compounds are not formed and the fiber can bind water
so that in the intestine there will be a lot of water so that the concentration of
 carcinogen compounds become low and ineffective in forming cancer cells
(Daldiyono et al, 1990 ).
Conclusion
Vegetables are an essential ingredient for health and are easy to find in daily food.
This is related to its role as a source of vitamins, antioxidants, and fiber that can prevent the
occurrence of diseases such as gastrointestinal disorders, diverticular disease, diabetes,
obesity, and colon cancer. As a source of vitamins, vegetables play a role in helping the
reactions in the body, as a source of fiber antioxidants play a role to break the reaction of free
radicals in the body and protect the body's cells from free radical damage, and vegetables also
play a role as a source of fiber because it can prevent some diseases.

Dietary fiber is good for health, therefore, it is advisable to consume vegetables as one
of the food that contain lots of fiber to prevent the degenerative and metabolic diseases.

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