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A word from Professor Gertjan Schaafsma
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Why is it important to raise awareness on sufficient dietary fibre intake? It is important, because not many people have an adequate fibre intake. For instance in the Netherlands less than 10% of the population consumes the recommended daily 3.4 gram fibre per megajoule* that was established as a guideline by the Health Council of the Netherlands in 2006.What are the health effects of dietary fibre? Dietary fibre stimulates the stool passage, and an adequate intake lowers the cardiovascular disease risk. Additionally, evidence indicates that fibre may have a beneficial effect on the diabetes II risk and that it increases satiation. This last effect is of importance in the prevention of obesity. Why is consuming products with added fibre not the same as a diet rich in natural fibre? The dietary fibre group consists of many fibre types which all have different physiological effects. These fibre types all have in common that they are not absorbed by the small intestine, and therefore reach the colon. Fibre recommendations with the underlying health effects in mind are based on the intake of the entire range of different dietary fibres. A varied diet containing vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds and grain products will deliver such a mix. Products with added fibre usually use individual purified – and in most cases – less complex fibres. The physiological effects of these fibres will differ from the effects of their natural counterparts. * 3.4 gram fibre per megajoule equals a daily fibre intake of 30 gram for women and 40 gram for men.
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Fibre and nut consumption in teenage years beneficial to breast health
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Breast cancer is the most frequent form of cancer women around the world suffer from. A recent Harvard study suggests that eating plenty of fibre and nuts during the teen years may reduce the chance of developing Benign Breast Disease (BBD) in later life. Women with BBD are known to be at greater risk of developing breast cancer. The Harvard research team that executed the study found a significant 36% risk reduction of developing BBD in women with a relative high consumption of nuts. This reduction was noted when comparing women who ate nuts more than twice per week in their high school years and women who ate less than one serving per month (p-trend <0.01). For women with the highest fibre consumption (median intake 28 g per day) a 25% reduced risk of developing BBD was noted compared with a low intake (median intake 15 g per day). Notably, other fibre rich sources such as fruits, legumes and vegetables were not significantly related to a lower BBD risk. The research team analyzed the data from the Nurses’ Health Study to establish the association between fibre intake and BBD. In 1998, 29,480 nurses participating in the Nurses’ Health Study returned a questionnaire about their dietary habits during high school. This high school dietary data on fibre and other dietary factors, such as nut intake, were linked to medical data on the occurrence of BBD. The multivariate models to study the association between diet and BDD were adjusted for multiple well-known risk factors such as age, energy intake, family history of breast cancer and alcohol intake.
Source: Su X., Tamimi R.M., Collins L.C., Baer H.J., Cho E., Sampson L., Willett W.C., Schnitt S.J., Connolly J.L., Rosner B.A., Colditz G.A. Intake of fiber and nuts during adolescence and incidence of proliferative benign breast disease. Cancer Causes Control. 2010 Mar 14. [Epub ahead of print] |
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Pistachio nuts linked to less oxidized LDL cholesterol
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Almonds and walnuts are well known as heart healthy nuts. But a recent study also linked consuming pistachios to significantly lower levels of oxidized-LDL in the blood. Increasingly, oxidized-LDL is being regarded as an important risk marker for heart diseases. Researchers from the Pennsylvania State University studied the effects of two pistachio diets on oxidization of LDL-cholesterol in the body. Because pistachios contain relatively high concentrations of antioxidants and unsaturated fatty acids, they are likely to show beneficial effects on blood concentrations of oxidized-LDL. The study employed a randomized controlled crossover design to establish the effects of adding pistachios to the diet. All 28 subjects with mildly elevated levels of cholesterol consumed three different diets for four weeks: one diet with one serving of pistachios (equal to 10% of total energy intake or 32-63 gram/day), one diet with two servings of pistachios (equal to 20% of total energy intake 63-126 gram/day) and a control diet with the same amount of calories. Between the study diets there was a two-week rest period. Lower LDL-cholesterol After the subjects had consumed both pistachio diets, the researchers noted a significant reduction of oxidized-LDL-cholesterol in the blood compared to the control diet. Most of the decrease in oxidized-LDL could be explained, because all cholesterol levels in the blood had decreased. The results also suggest an extra benefit of the anti-oxidants in pistachios. In the two-serving pistachio diet an additional significant effect was found after controlling for the cholesterol-lowering effect. This is probably the result of the higher concentrations of antioxidants in the blood, which could prevent LDL particles from oxidizing. Source: Kay C.D., Gebauer S.K., West S.G., Kris-Etherton P.M. Pistachios Increase Serum Antioxidants and Lower Serum Oxidized-LDL in Hypercholesterolemic Adults. Journal of Nutrition, 2010; 140 (6): 1093-1098 |
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