High Fibre reduces risk of many diseases

[Sibiriak]

Thanks mccoy for drawing attention to the fiber content of cocoa powder which, in addition to the polyphenol content,  likely contributes substantially to it's health-promoting effects.

 

Quote

The cocoa bean has a seed coat or bran with a high content in DF [dietary fiber], particularly insoluble fibre [8]. The composition of cocoa-derived products depends on the botanical variety as well as on genetic, agronomical and food processing. In contrast to chocolate production, the bran remains present in cocoa powder, thus being a good source of DF [9].   https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3369210/

 

[Ron Put]

I love my cacao nibs :)

 

I just came across something comparing human glycaemic and insulinaemic responses to differently processed oats.

Hint: Steel cut oats (least processed) are best:

Impact of oat processing on glycaemic and insulinaemic responses in healthy humans: a randomised clinical trial

[TomBAvoider]

You say steel cut oats are the least processed - certainly they are the least processed from the selection explored in that link, but technically, you also have oat groats, which are even less processed than steel cut. Now, the difference may seem small, because really steel cut oats are just groats that are cut into smaller pieces, but that's processing too - after all, crushing results in large flakes oats (i.e. old fashioned oats), so that too is mechanical processing. And you cut oats to make it easier to cook - compared to groats.

Anyway, I too consume steel cut oats, but I do that only for breakfast every Saturday and Sunday. Meanwhile, Monday through Friday, I consume a 1/4 cup of oat bran. So one way or another, I'm consuming some oat product every day that I eat. 

[Ron Put]

1 hour ago, TomBAvoider said:

... Anyway, I too consume steel cut oats, but I do that only for breakfast every Saturday and Sunday. Meanwhile, Monday through Friday, I consume a 1/4 cup of oat bran. So one way or another, I'm consuming some oat product every day that I eat. 

Thanks for the additional info.

What's your reason for alternating?

Edited March 20, 2020 by Ron Put

[TomBAvoider]

Well, oats are a highly caloric food. So I consume oat bran as I'm betting that the benefits are more concentrated in the bran (whether fiber, beta glucan or other compounds) - resulting in better calories/nutrient ratio 5 days a week. On Sat and Sun, I consume steel cut oats just in case I'm missing something by eating only bran - according to various studies, eating oats just twice a week shows benefits, so I figure I cover that too. But ultimately eating oats Sat and Sun is frankly simply an indulgance - gotta have some high reward food to make my diet fun, even if it's suboptimal health-wise :)... fwiw, I consume 3/4 cup dried oats Sat and 3/4 dried oats Sun - I boil the oats for 5 min and then set them aside for the night so they are ready to eat in the morning... this way of preparation seems to me to be superior insofar as it generates fewer AGEs and perhaps spares more nutrients. YMMV.

[Ron Put]

Hm, thanks. I don't know why I never explored this. I eat mostly flax, about 40g per day or so, with alternating 20g or so of steel cut oats and chia, sometimes hemp seeds, too. 

I guess I'll order oatbran ind mix it up a little on my end :)

[Clinton]

I love rolled oats.

I eat 1/2 cup 2x per day = 1 cup

It may be a bit much however I justify it due to eliminating my delicious whey protein - the net effect is large reduction in BCAAs, increase in fiber, many minerals, etc..

[TomBAvoider]

32 minutes ago, Ron Put said:

Hm, thanks. I don't know why I never explored this. I eat mostly flax, about 40g per day or so, with alternating 20g or so of steel cut oats and chia, sometimes hemp seeds, too. 

I guess I'll order oatbran ind mix it up a little on my end :)

Well, the oat bran is part of my "breakfast soup" - though technically, since I eat my first meal of the day around 1 pm, it's more of a "brunch soup", in any case, I've eaten a variation of this soup for about 20 years now. The ingredients change, although some things have been there from day one:

1)1/4 cup oat bran

2)1 tablespoon wheat bran

3)1 tablespoon wheat germ

4)1 tablespoon ground flax seed

5)1 tablespoon brewer's yeast

6)1 tablespoon psyllium powder 

All of it dissolved in green tea. Then I add in a berry medley, the composition of which changes depending on seasonality: usually blueberries, blackberries, strawberries and raspberries.

I looked at chia and hemp, but since I take flax, it wasn't clear to me if I got much more by including chia - mostly n3 FA, lignans and fiber, which I think flax has more of? But look, the list of ingredients in that "soup" that came and went is quite long - f.ex., I used to add cocoa powder, or whey protein, or a million other things. The list of ingredients depends on the rest of my diet, so f.ex. on days when I don't eat dinner (2 days a week, part of the 5:2 diet), I add 1 tbsp of pea protein powder.

[Ron Put]

Hah, Tom, this is rather similar to what I eat, except that I don't use bran, but just rotate flax (about 30-50g per day) and chia, oats and hemp (unshelled, which is strangely hard to find and it's expensive compared to shelled). I use water and the microwave (it seems to preserve nutrients better than most other ways of cooking), but today will add matcha, in addition to the 1.5-2g of cinnamon I usually add.

And the berries, yes -- I use frozen ones, as they help cool off my soup, plus I believe frozen ones retain more of their nutrients by the time I put them in my mouth.

[TomBAvoider]

What about the social aspect of this :)...? I usually eat my "soup" unwitnessed by outsiders (work from home), and on the occasions when my friends come over and see my "soup" they're horrified. My wife has a variation of this soup (heh, she too takes cinnamon in hers!) and takes it to work. Her co-workers are appalled and there's a lot of gossipping about "cult" and "disordered eating", while they waltz off to have lunch somewhere (after endless arguments as to where they should eat on any given day). But then, they're all frequently out sick, while my wife has had years of perfect attendence without one day missed out sick. There's a strange fascination with her "soup" - one co-worker asked my wife to bring a soup for her too, as she wanted to get in on the "cult" - but the co-worker only lasted a couple of days. To be fair, unless you introduce this quantity of fiber very gradually, it's a gastric challenge for the uninitiated. But the biggest objection seems to be palatability. Honestly, I don't find my soup disgusting in the least - I actually find it between neutral and mildly tasty. The berries in it are a treat, though.

After years and years of eating it, I'm so used to it that it feels very strange to be without it, as happens when I travel or am on vacation somewhere. So probably for a period of 3-4 weeks a year I don't consume it. I am however self-aware enough that I realize how it must look like to outsiders - an insane and revolting mish-mash. 

[Ron Put]

Many of my friends feel the same about my eating habits and I've heard the "eating disorder" comment occasionally, but the most vehement attacks are on being vegetarian. But they also "marvel" at my ability to eat like a pig when I go out, which reinforces their conviction that I have an eating disorder :)

On the other hand, many of my friends have started changing their diets in a healthier direction, which I guess is a consequence of being over 50 and starting to notice more the scale numbers, the mirror and the inevitable mortality of all of us.

By the way, I genuinely like my porridge and I do miss it when I travel, too.

I also make a pressure cooker (20 minutes at "bean" setting) stew of whatever I have in the fridge and the pantry, usually a mix of beluga lentils, black urad (or gramm, kind of large lentils), split peas, soybeans, quinoa, etc., with usually carrots, onions, kale, purple sweet potatoes, beets and so on, with plenty of spices (turmeric, cumin, black cumin (nigella seed), paprika, olive leaf powder, ginger.... I do it once a week or so and eat it as my main meal about 60-70% of the time.

[mccoy]

On 3/20/2020 at 11:39 PM, TomBAvoider said:

Well, the oat bran is part of my "breakfast soup" - though technically, since I eat my first meal of the day around 1 pm, it's more of a "brunch soup", in any case, I've eaten a variation of this soup for about 20 years now. The ingredients change, although some things have been there from day one:

1)1/4 cup oat bran

2)1 tablespoon wheat bran

3)1 tablespoon wheat germ

4)1 tablespoon ground flax seed

5)1 tablespoon brewer's yeast

6)1 tablespoon psyllium powder 

All of it dissolved in green tea. Then I add in a berry medley, the composition of which changes depending on seasonality: usually blueberries, blackberries, strawberries and raspberries.

TomB, is that all or just part of the lunch?  It looks very low on energy and other nutrients.

Edited March 22, 2020 by mccoy

[TomBAvoider]

No, it's just part of my first meal. The rest is:

1)Handful of walnuts

2)Bigger handful of raw almonds 

3)Small amount (about a tablespoon) of salted roasted peanuts - this is mostly for the salt :)

4)Washed down with copious amounts of green tea (brewed in 185 F degree water for 3-5 minutes - according to studies, this is the optimal amount for maximum EGCG).

5)Supplements

This part, by the way, I consume 7 days a week. 

I think it's pretty good on nutrients, except low on protein, which is OK - because I eat my protein in my next (and last) meal, and besides I like to keep my protein on the low side.

The berries give me various polyphenols, vitamins and minerals. Nuts - this is quite a bit of nuts - cover me for a lot of vitamins, minerals and fats (and a bit of protein). Brewers yeast is a ton of good stuff - protein, minerals, vitamins. Flax - fats. Wheat germ - vitamins, minerals, but I really take it for spermidine. Oat bran has a good amount of nutrients. Green tea - polyphenols.

Of course the it is super rich in fiber, which I think is extremely important. It's not gigantic in calories, but it's not super low - the nuts are fairly calorific. All in all, I find it very satisfying, but it's something that is constantly getting tweaked, adding small amounts of this or that, some ingredients moving out others in - as I learn more about nutrition, in response to my own needs (high cholesterol), and in response to the rest of my diet.

[mccoy]

Thanks TomB, OK, I was worrying about the apparently very low energy but the amount of nuts you cite is not that low, although the carbs seem to be very limited. Sounds very healthy overall though.

 

[Ron Put]

I am not sure if this has been posted before, but it jives with the study originally posted by mikeccolella:

Dietary fiber intake and mortality in the NIH-AARP Diet and Health Study

In our study, we observed an inverse association between dietary fiber intake and cancer death in men, but not in women. The observed gender difference may, in part, be due to the differences in leading organ sites for cancer death between men and women. Men have higher mortality rates of cancers of the head and neck, esophagus, liver, urinary bladder, and kidney compared to women. Considering data indicating that the risks of these cancers are influenced by several dietary factors including grains, fruits, and vegetables ²⁷, our findings of protective effect of dietary fiber on total cancer death may have been due, in part, by lowering mortality of these specific cancers in men. Nonetheless, we can not rule out the possibility that our findings of different associations between dietary fiber intake and cancer death between men and women is due to chance. Future research might elucidate this finding.

Interestingly our study found that dietary fiber intake, especially from grains was inversely associated with risk of death from infectious and respiratory diseases. Inflammation, a predominant pathphysiologic response in many infectious and respiratory diseases, has been suggested to contribute the progression of these diseases ²⁸. Studies have shown that dietary fiber has anti-inflammatory properties: dietary fiber intake was associated with lower levels of inflammation markers such as C-reactive protein, interlukin-6, and TNF-α-R2, which play roles in chronic inflammatory conditions ^29–32. The anti-inflammatory properties of dietary fiber could explain, in part, significant inverse associations of dietary fiber with infectious and respiratory diseases as well as with CVD death. The Iowa Women’s Health Study ³³ found that women consuming a large amount of whole grain, rich sources of fiber, mineral, and other phytochemicals, had a 34% lower risk of death from non cardiovascular, non cancer inflammatory diseases (RR_{Q5 vs. Q1}=0.66, 95% CI: 0.54–0.81, p-trend= 0.008) and a 40% lower risk of death from respiratory system diseases (RR_{Q5 vs. Q1}=0.60, 95% CI:0.46–0.80, p-trend=0.006). Few other studies have also suggested that dietary fiber intake lowers risk of inflammatory diseases such as duodenal ulcer and diverticular disease ^34–35.

[drewab]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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1 hour ago, Ron Put said:

I am not sure if this has been posted before, but it jives with the study originally posted by mikeccolella:

Dietary fiber intake and mortality in the NIH-AARP Diet and Health Study

In our study, we observed an inverse association between dietary fiber intake and cancer death in men, but not in women. The observed gender difference may, in part, be due to the differences in leading organ sites for cancer death between men and women. Men have higher mortality rates of cancers of the head and neck, esophagus, liver, urinary bladder, and kidney compared to women. Considering data indicating that the risks of these cancers are influenced by several dietary factors including grains, fruits, and vegetables ²⁷, our findings of protective effect of dietary fiber on total cancer death may have been due, in part, by lowering mortality of these specific cancers in men. Nonetheless, we can not rule out the possibility that our findings of different associations between dietary fiber intake and cancer death between men and women is due to chance. Future research might elucidate this finding.

Interestingly our study found that dietary fiber intake, especially from grains was inversely associated with risk of death from infectious and respiratory diseases. Inflammation, a predominant pathphysiologic response in many infectious and respiratory diseases, has been suggested to contribute the progression of these diseases ²⁸. Studies have shown that dietary fiber has anti-inflammatory properties: dietary fiber intake was associated with lower levels of inflammation markers such as C-reactive protein, interlukin-6, and TNF-α-R2, which play roles in chronic inflammatory conditions ^29–32. The anti-inflammatory properties of dietary fiber could explain, in part, significant inverse associations of dietary fiber with infectious and respiratory diseases as well as with CVD death. The Iowa Women’s Health Study ³³ found that women consuming a large amount of whole grain, rich sources of fiber, mineral, and other phytochemicals, had a 34% lower risk of death from non cardiovascular, non cancer inflammatory diseases (RR_{Q5 vs. Q1}=0.66, 95% CI: 0.54–0.81, p-trend= 0.008) and a 40% lower risk of death from respiratory system diseases (RR_{Q5 vs. Q1}=0.60, 95% CI:0.46–0.80, p-trend=0.006). Few other studies have also suggested that dietary fiber intake lowers risk of inflammatory diseases such as duodenal ulcer and diverticular disease ^34–35.

In this study, men in the highest quintile had a fiber intake of 29.4g/day vs. 12.6g/day in the lowest quintile. Meanwhile, women in the highest quintile had a fiber intake of 25.8g/d vs. 10.6g/day in the lowest quintile.  While it is encouraging that they note an inverse relationship between dietary fiber intake and a reduced risk of cancer, it's not even close to the fiber intake of many of those around here. Personally, I'm typically in the 80-100g/day range. 

There are also some confounding variables here since the group with the highest fiber intake also smoked less and exercised more. Doesn't mean the relationship isn't there, just that there is a little more going on.

Interestingly our study found that dietary fiber intake, especially from grains was inversely associated with risk of death from infectious and respiratory diseases.

This above association is particularly interesting in light of everything taking place with COVID-19. It doesn't surprise me but it good to see nonetheless. 

 

[Ron Put]

1 hour ago, drewab said:

Personally, I'm typically in the 80-100g/day range

Wow! This is impressive! What do you get the bulk of it from?

I just looked and according to Cronometer, over the last 4 weeks my average fiber intake is 73.8g, with average daily intake of 1929 kcalories.  Mine is mostly from legumes, flax and cacao nibs.

The study authors seem to address the confounding stuff like smoking:

"... our finding may be in part due to residual confounding by healthy lifestyle. However, we found significant inverse associations even after controlling for all these factors in multivariate models. In addition, inverse associations between dietary fiber intake and total and cause-specific deaths were observed in never smokers and in people with a BMI <25. Measurement error is always an inherent limitation in self-reported dietary assessment. Nevertheless, our measurement error correction analyses strengthened our associations."

Edited May 2, 2020 by Ron Put

[TomBAvoider]

Thanks, Ron, very nice find. However, I'm struck by one thing - the folks in the lower fiber intake group really had very, very low fiber intake. So it may be the same case as with many (most?) vitamins and minerals. The problem being that if you have frank deficiencies, then yes, upping your intake is going to lead to healthier outcomes, but that's not due to all the "good" that vitamins are doing, rather it's removing all the bad that malnutrition is doing. Additionally, super low fiber diets tend to be heavy in processed food, so to what degree is the effect due to the presence of fiber and to what degree due to the absence of processed food. Generally speaking fiber rich foods such as F&V are healthier.

 

[Mike41]

Interestingly our study found that dietary fiber intake, especially from grains was inversely associated with risk of death from infectious and respiratory diseases. Inflammation, a predominant pathphysiologic response in many infectious and respiratory diseases, has been suggested to contribute the progression of these diseases ²⁸. Studies have shown that dietary fiber has anti-inflammatory properties: dietary fiber intake was associated with lower levels of inflammation markers such as C-reactiveprotein, interlukin-6, and TNF-α-R2, which play roles in chronic inflammatory conditions ^29–32. The anti-inflammatory properties of dietary fiber could explain, in part, significant inverse associations of dietary fiber with.

hmmm....so interesting that whole grains are associated with lower inflammation when so many claim lectins are so damn inflammatory! A lot of people write best sellers claiming exactly that. On this list years ago lectins were a big topic and quite a few prominent members did not, and I I believe still avoid grains.
 

According to Cronometer  I am eating 80 gms of Fibre. I do eat whole grains. Barley and oats mostly and some whole wheat.

Edited May 2, 2020 by Mike41

[Mike41]

Omg! Here we go again the nutritional merry go round! Does anyone understand why this always happens.in their case it’s cereal Fibre.

this one posted just now by AL PATER says no positive effect from cereal Fibre. 

 

Bean, fruit, and vegetable fiber, but not cereal fiber are associated with reduced mortality in Japan.
Jenkins DJA, Srichaikul KK, Kendall CWC, Sievenpiper JL.
Am J Clin Nutr. 2020 May 1;111(5):941-943. doi: 10.1093/ajcn/nqaa045. No abstract available.
PMID: 32219427
https://sci-hub.tw/10.1093/ajcn/nqaa045
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Dietary fiber intake and total and cause-specific mortality: the Japan Public Health Center-based prospective study.
Katagiri R, Goto A, Sawada N, Yamaji T, Iwasaki M, Noda M, Iso H, Tsugane S.
Am J Clin Nutr. 2020 May 1;111(5):1027-1035. doi: 10.1093/ajcn/nqaa002

and this one says the opposite!

Dietary fiber intake and mortality in the NIH-AARP Diet and Health Study

In our study, we observed an inverse association between dietary fiber intake and cancer death in men, but not in women. The observed gender difference may, in part, be due to the differences in leading organ sites for cancer death between men and women. Men have higher mortality rates of cancers of the head and neck, esophagus, liver, urinary bladder, and kidney compared to women. Considering data indicating that the risks of these cancers are influenced by several dietary factors including grains, fruits, and vegetables ²⁷, our findings of protective effect of dietary fiber on total cancer death may have been due, in part, by lowering mortality of these specific cancers in men. Nonetheless, we can not rule out the possibility that our findings of different associations between dietary fiber intake and cancer death between men and women is due to chance. Future research might elucidate this finding.

Interestingly our study found that dietary fiber intake, especially from grains was inversely associated with risk of death from infectious and respiratory diseases. Inflammation, a predominant pathphysiologic response in many infectious and respiratory diseases, has been suggested to contribute the progression of these diseases

However when you look at the details of the study in Japan we find the problem! The types of cereal Fibre was predominantly white rice. Need I say more?

 

 

 

 

Edited May 11, 2020 by Mike41

[Saul]

The Japanese study says:

white rice, (white) bread, (white) udon, soba and Chinesenoodles, and (white) rice cakes, and so the “white” fiber-depletedfoods would provide no significant amount of whole grain fiber.The lack of effect of fiber in this cereal context is therefore notsurprising.

  --  Saul

[Ron Put]

Yep. Kind of a weird study.

Nutritional Values of White Rice Vs. Brown Rice

White Rice (one cup):   0.6g of fiber
Brown Rice: (one cup)   3.2g of fiber

A systematic review that examined 16 cohort studies found consumption of brown rice had a protective effect on risk of diabetes. However, white rice had the opposite effect. The conclusion, published in the European Journal of Epidemiology in 2013, recommended at least two servings per day of a whole grain, such as brown rice, to reduce Type 2 diabetes risk.

White rice has more calcium, however.

[Mike41]

White rice is sugar for the most part

[Ron Put]

Whole grain consumption and risk of cardiovascular disease, cancer, and all cause and cause specific mortality: systematic review and dose-response meta-analysis of prospective studies

Results: 45 studies (64 publications) were included. The summary relative risks per 90 g/day increase in whole grain intake (90 g is equivalent to three servings-for example, two slices of bread and one bowl of cereal or one and a half pieces of pita bread made from whole grains) was 0.81 (95% confidence interval 0.75 to 0.87; I(2)=9%, n=7 studies) for coronary heart disease, 0.88 (0.75 to 1.03; I(2)=56%, n=6) for stroke, and 0.78 (0.73 to 0.85; I(2)=40%, n=10) for cardiovascular disease, with similar results when studies were stratified by whether the outcome was incidence or mortality. The relative risks for morality were 0.85 (0.80 to 0.91; I(2)=37%, n=6) for total cancer, 0.83 (0.77 to 0.90; I(2)=83%, n=11) for all causes, 0.78 (0.70 to 0.87; I(2)=0%, n=4) for respiratory disease, 0.49 (0.23 to 1.05; I(2)=85%, n=4) for diabetes, 0.74 (0.56 to 0.96; I(2)=0%, n=3) for infectious diseases, 1.15 (0.66 to 2.02; I(2)=79%, n=2) for diseases of the nervous system disease, and 0.78 (0.75 to 0.82; I(2)=0%, n=5) for all non-cardiovascular, non-cancer causes. Reductions in risk were observed up to an intake of 210-225 g/day (seven to seven and a half servings per day) for most of the outcomes. Intakes of specific types of whole grains including whole grain bread, whole grain breakfast cereals, and added bran, as well as total bread and total breakfast cereals were also associated with reduced risks of cardiovascular disease and/or all cause mortality, but there was little evidence of an association with refined grains, white rice, total rice, or total grains.

Conclusions: This meta-analysis provides further evidence that whole grain intake is associated with a reduced risk of coronary heart disease, cardiovascular disease, and total cancer, and mortality from all causes, respiratory diseases, infectious diseases, diabetes, and all non-cardiovascular, non-cancer causes. These findings support dietary guidelines that recommend increased intake of whole grain to reduce the risk of chronic diseases and premature mortality.

[Mike Lustgarten]

High-fiber also improves lung antiviral defense: