The IAFNS funded Dietary Fibers & Human Health Outcomes Database was developed and is maintained by Dr. Nicola McKeown originally at Tufts University and currently at Boston University.

Grant Funding

IAFNS is currently offering graduate student and post-doc stipends for research using the comprehensive database. Details and full instructions can be found here.

 The objectives of this database are to:

  1. Systematically compile and provide access to primary, English-language, peer-reviewed science linking dietary fiber intake in humans to one or more of 10 potential health benefits
  2. Provide researchers with a tool to understand how different fibers are characterized in studies
  3. Facilitate researchers in identifying gaps in the current research
  4. Create a database to serve as a starting foundation of primary human literature for conducting evidence-based reviews and meta-analyses
  5. Efficiently assist researchers in identifying fibers of interest

This database should serve as a foundation for future work. Specific inclusion and exclusion criteria, detailed below, were applied in determining database eligibility; thus, this database is not intended to serve as a sole source for identifying all possible fiber literature for the purposes of conducting a meta-analysis or systematic review. This database contains Population, Intervention, Comparator, and Outcome (PICO) data to help users formulate and narrow the focus of their research question. It is expected that secondary searches will be conducted to augment this database. If conducting a systematic review, we recommend reviewing the following source: Liberati A, Altman DG, Tetzlaff J, Mulrow C, Gøtzsche PC, Ioannidis JPA, et al. The PRISMA statement for reporting systematic reviews and meta-analyses of studies that evaluate health care interventions: Explanation and elaboration. PLoS Medicine 2009;6(7):e1000100. It is important to note that for this version of the database, the screening of studies and data extraction were performed for the majority of papers by only 1 person; as such, users are strongly encouraged to confirm the data they require is captured. We imagine that the users will narrow down their search to fiber(s) of interest and will populate their version of the database with additional data (such as results).

Users of this database should provide attribution in the acknowledgements of any publications or presentations acknowledging Dr. Nicola McKeown (Boston University) as Principal Investigator and IAFNS as the funding agent, as follows, “Supported by the Technical Committee on Dietary Carbohydrates of the Institute for the Advancement of Food and Nutrition Sciences (IAFNS).” 

 

 

Resources

This database is maintained in accordance with the IAFNS Guiding Principles for public private partnerships. For more information on our policies, please see: IAFNS Project Guidelines And Policies

Video tutorial

Presentation of Rationale & Methods