High intake of dietary fiber beneficial for hypertension and CVD management: Study
New Zealand: Findings from a meta-analysis published in the journal BMC Medicine emphasize the incorporation of high fiber foods for patients with cardiovascular disease (CVD) and hypertension due to its potential benefits. It helps in improving cardiometabolic risk factors supporting an observed reduction in premature mortality.
A high intake of dietary fiber is shown to be associated with a reduced risk of developing CVD, and increasing intake has been reported to reduce blood pressure and other cardiometabolic risk factors. There is no clear establishment of the extent to which fiber can further reduce the risk for those with CVD and treated with cardioprotective drugs.
Against the above background, Andrew N. Reynolds, Riddet Institute, Palmerston North, New Zealand, and colleagues examined the evidence for dietary fiber as an adjunct therapy in those with CVD or hypertension.
For this purpose, the researchers searched the online databases to June 2021. Prospective observational studies reporting on fiber intakes and mortality in those with pre-existing CVD and controlled trials of increasing fiber intakes on cardiometabolic risk factors in those with CVD or hypertension were eligible.
Mortality (studies) and cardiometabolic risk factors (trials) were the outcomes. Random effects and dose response were used for data synthesis. Certainty of evidence was assessed using GRADE.
Salient findings of the study include:
· Three prospective studies including 7469 adults with CVD, and 12 trials of 878 adults with CVD or hypertension were identified.
· Moderate certainty evidence indicates reduced all-cause mortality (relative risk, RR0.75) when comparing higher with lower fiber intakes.
· Low certainty evidence from trials of adults with cardiovascular disease indicates increasing fiber intakes reduced total (mean difference, MD − 0.42 mmol/L and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol (MD − 0.47mmol/L).
· High certainty evidence from trials of adults with hypertension indicates increasing fiber intake reduces systolic (MD 4.3 mmHg) and diastolic blood pressure (MD 3.1 mmHg).
· Moderate and low certainty evidence indicated improvements in fasting blood glucose (MD 0.48 mmol/L) and LDL cholesterol (MD 0.29 mmol/L).
"These findings stress the likely benefits of promoting greater dietary fiber intakes for patients with CVD and hypertension," wrote the authors. "Confidence in these results may be increased by further trials and cohort analyses in this area."
Reference:
Reynolds, A.N., Akerman, A., Kumar, S. et al. Dietary fibre in hypertension and cardiovascular disease management: systematic review and meta-analyses. BMC Med 20, 139 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12916-022-02328-x
