Study: High-Fiber Diet Linked To Lower Incidence Of Chronic Diseases

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Americans don’t get enough fiber:

Total dietary fiber intake should be 25 to 30 grams a day from food, not supplements. Currently, dietary fiber intakes among adults in the United States average about 15 grams a day. That’s about half the recommended amount.
– University of California San Francisco Medical Center: Fiber

Fiber is only found in plant food.

This new study found that people who ate the most fiber had the best quality of life as they aged:

WholeGrainBread3Association Between Carbohydrate Nutrition and Successful Aging Over 10 Years, Journals of Gerontology Series A: Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences, Online 1 June 2016

Higher baseline consumption of energy-adjusted total fiber, breads/cereal fiber, and fruit fiber were all associated with a greater likelihood of aging successfully. … In contrast, a reduced likelihood of aging successfully … was observed among participants whose consumption of dietary breads/cereal fiber and fruit fiber remained consistently below the median during the 10 years.

Conclusions: Consumption of dietary fiber from breads/cereals and fruits independently influenced the likelihood of aging successfully over 10 years. These findings suggest that increasing intake of fiber-rich foods could be a successful strategy in reaching old age disease free and fully functional.

They defined “successful aging” as:

“… the absence of disability, depressive symptoms, cognitive impairment, respiratory symptoms, and chronic diseases (e.g. cancer and coronary artery disease).”

– They did not find a benefit from vegetables.
– The fiber from breads/cereals came mostly from rolled oats and wholegrain breads.
– As to mechanisms, they said dietary fiber could reduce inflammation.
– They also mentioned a positive effect from gut bacteria:

Moreover, it was proposed that short-chain fatty acids produced by fermentation of dietary fiber by intestinal microbiota interact with the anti-inflammatory chemoattractant receptor GPR43.

One of the short-chain fatty acids is butyrate. Remember butyrate? The man (or institution) that wrote the book, Fat Is Our Friend, said to eat butter because it contains butyrate. After I pointed out that butyrate is broken down and absorbed well before it reaches the colon, a fact he finally agreed with, he said to take a butter enema. For crying out loud.

5 thoughts on “Study: High-Fiber Diet Linked To Lower Incidence Of Chronic Diseases”

    1. Bix Post author

      I don’t know. They did say that fiber could just be a marker for other chemicals that go along with fiber. In the case of grains, there could be resistant starch feeding colonic bacteria, making short-chain fatty acids, etc.

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    2. Bix Post author

      This is what they said about fiber “co-passengers”:

      “Moreover, foods that are high in fiber, whole grains, vegetables, fruits, and legumes contain more than just fiber. These co-passengers with fiber may provide the protective health properties of fiber, rather than the fiber itself (10). Also, additional properties of fiber, such as viscosity and fermentability, may be more important characteristics in terms of physiological benefits.”

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  2. Bix Post author

    As to fruit … there were a couple studies in this month’s American Journal of Clinical Nutrition about:

    – Cranberry juice reducing urinary tract infections.
    – Tart cherry juice reducing blood pressure.

    I tweeted the studies. So, it may not be only the fiber in these foods but other compounds, fiber’s “co-passengers.”

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