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High fiber diet reduced risk for diverticular disease
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Increased intake of dietary fiber was found to be associated with reduced risk for intestinal diverticular disease in a new study.
Francesca L. Crowe, PhD, University of Oxford, and colleagues evaluated data on dietary fiber intake prospectively collected from the Million Women Study, which surveyed 1.3 million middle-aged women from the United Kingdom between 1996 and 2001. Diet was assessed using a validated questionnaire at enrollment and 1 year, and diagnosis of diverticular disease was identified by National Health Service records.
Francesca L. Crowe
Of 690,075 women (mean age, 60 years) without known diverticular disease and who had not changed their diet in the last 5 years, total intake of dietary fiber was a mean of 13.8 g per day. Cereal fiber accounted for 42% of overall dietary fiber intake, and fruit, vegetable and potato fiber each accounted for 22%, 19% and 15%, respectively. After a mean follow-up period of 6 years, 17,325 had diverticular disease-related hospitalization or mortality. Relative risk for diverticular disease per 5 g/day fiber intake was 0.86 (95% CI, 0.84-0.88). When adjusting for each of the main dietary sources of fiber, RR was 0.84 (95% CI, 0.81-0.88) for cereal, 0.81 (95% CI, 0.77-0.86) for fruit, 1.03 (95% CI, 0.93-1.14) for vegetables and 1.04 (95% CI, 1.02-1.07) for potatoes.
“We found a statistically significant reduced risk of diverticular disease with increasing intake of dietary fiber,” the researchers wrote. “We also found differences in disease risk by source of the fiber, with significant reductions in risk only with intakes of fruit and cereal fiber.”
“A higher intake of dietary fiber reduces the risk of diverticular disease, and these findings lend support to public health recommendations that encourage the consumption of foods high in fiber, specifically wholemeal breads, wholegrain (unrefined) cereals and fruits,” Crowe told Healio.com/Gastroenterology.
Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.
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