Dietary fibers & immunity—more than meets the eye

Dietary fiber consumption is suggested to favorably impact immune function, but the mechanisms mediating this effect remain under explored. In a recent study in Nature, Arifuzzaman et al. unveil that murine consumption of a specific dietary fiber, inulin, induces type 2 inflammatory responses, through discrete microbiome-mediated mechanisms; these dietary-induced immune responses, in turn, modulate context-dependent detrimental or beneficial inflammatory consequences in the mammalian host.