Fiber Slashes Heart Disease Risk

In that previous studies have suggested that dietary fiber protects against coronary heart disease, Ehab  S. Eshak, from Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine (Japan), and colleagues examined the association between dietary fiber intake and deaths due to cardiovascular disease in a group of 58,730 Japanese men and women, ages 40 to 79 years.  Subjects completed a dietary questionnaire, and the team measured fiber and nutrient intake levels. The incidence of cardiovascular-related deaths was tracked, during the 14-year long study.  The team found that those men and women consuming the most fiber (14 grams per day) were 18% less likely to die from cardiovascular disease, as compared to those consuming the least (6.8 grams per day).  With regard to coronary heart disease, the men who consumed the most fruit fiber were 58% less likely to die, and women 45% less likely. Noting that: “For fiber sources, intakes of fruit and cereal fibers but not vegetable fiber were inversely associated with risk of mortality from [coronary heart disease],” the researchers conclude that: “Dietary intakes of fiber, both insoluble and soluble fibers, and especially fruit and cereal fibers, may reduce risk of mortality from [coronary heart disease].”