Review Confirms Fiber’s Benefits in Reducing Risk of Death from all Causes

by | Apr 15, 2016 | 2015, Digestive Health, Fiber, Longevity

Written by Greg Arnold, DC, CSCS. In a review that included 17 researches with 982, 411 total subjects, those with the highest fiber intakes had an 18% lower risk of death than those with the lower fiber intake.

Dietary fiber’s role in optimizing health is found primarily in the edible parts of plants or similar carbohydrates being resistant to digestion and absorption by the small intestine (1). Current recommendations of fiber intake for U.S. adults include 25 grams per day for women and 38 grams for men (1).

Research has found fiber intake beneficial for specific diseases including heart disease (2), stroke (3), high blood pressure (4), diabetes (5), and major cancers (6, 7), including breast cancer (8, 9). Now a new research review (10) has confirmed fiber’s role in helping decrease risk for all causes of death as a whole (called “all-cause mortality”).

In the review, the researchers analyzed 17 studies completed between 1997 and 2014 of 982,411 subjects, which reported a total of 67,260 deaths. They found “a statistically significant inverse association”, specifically a 16% reduced risk of all-cause mortality, between the highest and lowest intake of fiber (p = 0.029). In addition, every 10-gram increase in fiber intake produced a 10% reduction in all-cause mortality risk (p < 0.001).

The study that provided the best data that closely matched the review results was a 2012 study (11) of 452,717 participants in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition. In that study, those with total fiber intake greater than 28.5 grams per day had a 18% reduced risk of death compared to those consuming less than 16.4 grams per day (p < 0.009), a 25% reduction in smoking-related cancers (p < 0.001), a 17% reduction in circulatory diseases (p = 0.032), and a 71% reduced risk of digestive disease (p < 0.001), with every 10-gram increase in fiber intake resulting in a 10% reduction in risk (p < 0.05).

For the researchers, “These findings add to and extend the evidence that increased fiber intake may exert healthy effects and decrease the risk of all-cause mortality:” and that “one should be encouraged to increase his/her dietary fiber intake to potentially decrease the risk of premature death.”

Source: Yang, Yang, Long-Gang Zhao, Qi-Jun Wu, Xiao Ma, and Yong-Bing Xiang. “Association between dietary fiber and lower risk of all-cause mortality: a meta-analysis of cohort studies.” American journal of epidemiology 181, no. 2 (2015): 83-91.

© The Author 2014

Posted February 9, 2015.

Greg Arnold is a Chiropractic Physician practicing in Hauppauge, NY.  You can contact Dr. Arnold directly by emailing him at PitchingDoc@msn.com or visiting his web site at www.PitchingDoc.com.

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  10. Yang Y. Association between dietary fiber and lower risk of all-cause mortality: a meta-analysis of cohort studies. Am J Epidemiol 2015 Jan 15;181(2):83-91. doi: 10.1093/aje/kwu257. Epub 2014 Dec 31
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