Cereal fibre associated with lower risk of cardiovascular disease: Findings

Not all dietary fibre is created equal: cereal fibre but not fruit or vegetable fibres are linked with lower inflammation

Researchers at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health and colleagues evaluated whether dietary fibre intake was associated with a decrease in inflammation in older adults and if fibre was inversely related to cardiovascular disease (CVD).

The results showed that total fibre, and more specifically cereal fibre but not fruit or vegetable fibre, was consistently associated with lower inflammation and lower CVD incidence.

Until now there had been limited data on the link between fiber and inflammation among older adults, who have higher levels of inflammation compared with younger adults. The study findings are published in JAMA Network Open.

The research includes data from a large and well-characterized prospective cohort of elderly individuals, with detailed data on dietary intake, inflammation, and incidence of CVD. The research confirmed previously observed associations between dietary fibre and CVD and extended those investigations to include the source of the fibre, the relationship of fibre with multiple inflammatory markers, and to test whether inflammation mediated the relationship between dietary fibre and CVD.

“With findings from this study we now are learning that cereal fiber has the potential to reduce inflammation and will need to be tested in future interventional studies”, said the researchers.