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Human gut microbiota is increasingly associated with chronic disease risk and progression. Given the preference for carbohydrate fermentation by the majority of bacteria that constitute the microbiota, fiber is a key modulator of its composition and metabolic activity and these changes provide potential mechanisms to explain the associations of fiber with chronic disease risk reduction and treatment. Although pea hull fiber has been shown to positively impact gastrointestinal function, such as decreased gastrointestinal transit time and increased stool frequency, its effects on gut microbiota are less known. In young adults, pea fiber may enhance protective species, such as <i>Faecalibacterium prausnitzii</i> and various butyrate producers, whereas phylum level changes show mixed results. In older adults with chronic disease, pea hull fiber enhances motility and may reduce gut-generated, inflammatory compounds such as <i>p</i>-cresol, which suggests depression of proteolytic activity. As pea hull fiber may have little impact on genera thought to be health enhancing (e.g. <i>Bifidobacteria and Lactobacillus</i> spp.), its potential beneficial effects may be instead be related to suppression of proteolytic gut organisms and their activity through decreased transit time and/or slow saccharolytic fermentation that extends to the distal large intestine. Further research is needed to determine the extent of fermentation of pea hull fiber and as it relates to gastrointestinal transit time and various target group characteristics, as well as the related effects on health outcomes.