Association Between Dietary Fiber and Lower Risk of All-Cause Mortality: A Meta-Analysis of Cohort Studies
Abstract
Although in vitro and in vivo experiments have suggested that dietary fiber might have beneficial effects on health, results on the association between fiber intake and all-cause mortality in epidemiologic studies have been inconsistent. Therefore, we conducted a meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies to quantitatively assess this association. Pertinent studies were identified by searching articles in PubMed and Web of Knowledge through May 2014 and reviewing the reference lists of the retrieved articles. Study-specific risk estimates were combined using random-effects models. Seventeen prospective studies (1997-2014) that had a total of 67,260 deaths and 982,411 cohort members were included. When comparing persons with dietary fiber intakes in the top tertile with persons whose intakes were in the bottom tertile, we found a statistically significant inverse association between fiber intake and all-cause mortality, with an overall relative risk of 0.84 (95% confidence interval: 0.80, 0.87; I(2) = 41.2%). There was a 10% reduction in risk for per each 10-g/day increase in fiber intake (relative risk = 0.90; 95% confidence interval: 0.86, 0.94; I(2) = 77.2%). The combined estimate was robust across subgroup and sensitivity analyses. No publication bias was detected. A higher dietary fiber intake was associated with a reduced risk of death. These findings suggest that fiber intake may offer a potential public health benefit in reducing all-cause mortality.
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Meta-analyses indicate that eating more fibre lowers mortality risk significantly.
“meta-analyses show that the increased consumption of fibre significantly decreases the risk of mortality123,124.”
From Diet–microbiota interactions as moderators of human metabolism (2016) · cites this paper as [124]
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- Authors
- Yang, Y., Zhao, L.-G., Wu, Q.-J., Ma, X., & Xiang, Y.-B.
- Affiliations
- Shanghai Jiao Tong University (CN)
- Corresponding author
- Xiang, Yong-Bing
- Venue
- American Journal of Epidemiology
- Publisher
- Oxford University Press (OUP)
- Published
- 2015-01-05
- Volume
- 181
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 83-91
- ISSN
- 0002-9262 (ISSN-L)
- 1476-6256
- OpenAlex
- W2137413039
- Cited by
- 119
- References
- 47
- Citations by year
- 2026: 4 · 2025: 7 · 2024: 5 · 2023: 19 · 2022: 16 · 2021: 8 · 2020: 11 · 2019: 13 · 2018: 11 · 2017: 7 · 2016: 12 · 2015: 5
- FWCI
- 1.25
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- American Journal of Epidemiology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Nutritional Studies and Diet
- Health Sciences › Nursing › Nutrition and Dietetics › Food composition and properties
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Gut microbiota and health
- Keywords
- dietary fiber, all-cause mortality, dietary fiber intake, mortality risk, prospective cohort, public health benefits
- MeSH terms
- Cholesterol, Dietary Fiber, Female, Humans, Male, Mortality, Prospective Studies, Risk Factors, Health Behavior
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