Reduce Diabetes Risk By Increasing Dietary Fiber

First Posted: May 28, 2015 04:11 PM EDT

Increasing your intake of dietary fiber may help lower your risk of diabetes. The findings are published in the journal Diabetologia.

European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition, EPIC-InterAct, studied potential links between the total amount of fibre from cereal, fruit and vegetable sources as well as new-onset type 2 diabetes in eight countries.

They used data from 12,403 verified cases of type 2 diabetes, comparing 16,835 individuals who were then compared with others based on cereal consumption that included 350,000 participants.

Researchers divided participants into four groups: those who consumed the lowest intake of fiber and the last group who hate the highest, with the two in between consuming medium amounts. Then, they followed the participants for about 11 years and found that those who consumed over 26g of fiber per day had an 18 percent lower risk of developing diabetes when compared to those who consumed less than 19g of fiber per day (the lowest amount).

Furthermore, they found that fiber didn't necessarily reduce the risk of diabetes directly, but helped people lose weight, which lowered their diabetes risk.

"Taken together, our results indicate that individuals with diets rich in fiber, in particular cereal fiber, may be at lower risk of type 2 diabetes," Dagfinn Aune, an author of the study and a Ph.D. student with the Norwegian University of Science and Technology and Imperial College London, said in a news release. "We are not certain why this might be, but potential mechanisms could include feeling physically full for longer, prolonged release of hormonal signals, slowed down nutrient absorption, or altered fermentation in the large intestine."

Furthermore, rsearchers found a strong inverse link with cereal fiber when evaluating different fiber resources. It was found that the risk of developing diabetes was about 19 percent lower with cereal fiber rather than vegetable fiber at 16 percent. However, no reduction was noted in fruit fiber.

Cereals accounted for 38 percent of the total fiber intake and were the main source of fiber in most countries studied.

However, researchers are still working to determine how to increase fiber consumption throughout the world.

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TagsHealth, Human, Diabetes, diet, dietary, Fiber, Risk, Cereal, Fruit, Vegetables