The study published in the journal Cytokine and co-authored by researchers employed at Myota assessed individual inflammatory biomarkers in participants following three set meal interventions. It identified meal-responsive inflammatory cytokine biomarkers and analyzed the pharmacokinetics of plasma short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) after eating, with and without a personalized butyrate-promoting prebiotic fiber.
“This research adds weight to the idea that we all have incredibly unique responses to food and more than we initially thought,” Cailin Hall, head of research at Myota and co-author of the study, told NutraIngredients.
“I’d love to see future personalized nutrition programs evolve to reflect that complexity. There will always be a place for generic population-level dietary guidelines, but in the same breath, we’re not all the same person, so why should our dietary advice be?”
What is fibermaxxing?
Consumers are waking up to the importance of prebiotic fibers, as evidenced by the social media wellness trend coined ‘fibermaxxing’, which involves strategically maximizing daily fiber intake to hit or exceed recommended fiber targets.
“We’ve seen a huge surge in interest and knowledge about prebiotic fiber,” Hall told NI.
“There’s a growing awareness that gut health is central to almost all areas of health and that prebiotic fiber plays a key role in that. People are starting to realize it’s not just about regularity; fiber supports immune function, inflammation, blood glucose and insulin control, and even mood, cognition and stress. That shift in thinking is already driving demand for functional ingredients.”
While fibermaxxing is bringing more awareness to the benefits of fiber, Hall warns that the simplification of a complex subject may mean people miss out on the benefits.
“Just piling on more fiber isn’t necessarily better if it’s not the right kind for your body or gut microbiome,” she said. “Too much fiber too quickly can be very problematic from a GI perspective.
“We also know the gut microbiome thrives off diversity, so consuming all your fiber from broccoli, for example, isn’t the best strategy.
“I think the next phase of this trend needs to be about ‘smart fibremaxxing’—consuming a diversity of plant-based prebiotic fibers based on science, not just social media.”
Identifying biomarkers
According to Hall, to understand how the body reacts to fiber intake, reliable biomarkers need to be identified.
After meals, the body undergoes a temporary inflammatory response, which is normally short-lived, however, repeated or abnormal postprandial inflammation can raise systemic inflammatory levels and increase cardiometabolic risk.
As people spend much of their day in the postprandial state, researchers have an opportunity to target inflammation during this period, but in order to do so they need to identify reliable biomarkers that respond to food intake, are consistent across individuals and predict future health outcomes.
According to the new study, previous research lacks consensus on which food-induced inflammatory biomarkers to use and how frequently to sample them, which has led to conflicting findings.
Study details
The researchers recruited three healthy males between the ages of 21 and 36 in Geneva, Switzerland to consume three different meals over three weeks in a repeated-measures crossover trial. Participants completed three test conditions involving 1200 kcal meals: Meal ‘A’ was Mediterranean, Meal ‘B’ was high in saturated fat and Meal ‘C’ was the same as Meal ‘B’ plus a 20 g personalized fiber supplement. There was a six-day washout period between test conditions.
To develop the personalized fiber supplement, the researchers collected stool samples and analyzed them to determine which fibers produced the most butyrate. They then selected and mixed two top-performing fibers in a 1:1 ratio to create a 20 g supplement for Meal C.
For each meal condition, blood samples were taken continually over a 30-hour period, and inflammatory cytokines and plasma SCFAs were measured.
Assessments showed that biomarker responses varied widely within and across participants, revealing highly personalized inflammatory profiles. The researchers identified 26 biomarkers that changed after meal intake, however, only three (CST5, FGF-19, and ST1A1) consistently responded to all meal types across all individuals. In contrast, 23 biomarkers showed individual-specific postprandial changes.
Results also showed that the plasma concentrations of butyrate, acetate and propionate increased over 25 hours post-meal, suggesting long-lasting effects post-meal, however, these patterns did not consistently align with inflammatory biomarker changes.
“Since this was a small, tightly controlled study conducted in three healthy males, it’s not possible to draw conclusions about what drives inter-individual variability in postprandial inflammatory responses,” Hall said.
“That said, based on our observations and the broader literature, the gut microbiome likely plays a role, particularly through its ability to ferment dietary fiber into SCFAs.
“There’s some evidence that SCFA production may be linked to modulation of inflammatory pathways, although this mechanism needs further investigation in larger cohorts.”
She also noted that intestinal transit time could be another contributing factor. Previous research showed that slower transit time was associated with greater microbial fermentation in the colon and distinct metabolic outcomes.
Personalized nutrition potential
The researchers used high-frequency data collection to uncover complex, dynamic post-meal physiological changes that “traditional sampling would have missed,” and according to Hall, this technology could have potential in the future for personalization.
“As the tech evolves, there’s huge potential to apply this kind of high-resolution analysis to consumer tools,” she said. “Imagine continuous inflammation or SCFA tracking paired with an AI app that suggests meals or fiber types in real time.
“We’re definitely not there yet in terms of accessibility or accuracy (despite some companies saying they can), but the direction is promising. We already have CGMs for glucose, and postprandial inflammation might be next. I think it’s just a matter of time before the tech catches up to the science.”
Journal: Cytokine. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cyto.2025.156990; “Characterising high-resolution dynamics of inflammatory and SCFA responses to food consumption in healthy men: A pilot biomarker discovery study”. Authors: Hall, C. V. et al.
