Dietary insoluble fiber intake may be associated with lower risk of hypertension

1. An increased variety and quantity of dietary insoluble fiber intake was associated with a lower risk of new-onset hypertension.

Evidence Rating Level: 2 (Good)

Hypertension continues to present a significant health care burden with its strong contribution to cardiovascular disease and all-cause mortality globally. More recently, there has been a growing interest in research investigating nutrient intake and hypertension risk, specifically dietary fiber. Previous studies have demonstrated a potential beneficial effect of dietary fibers on cardiovascular disease, but no known study has examined the relationship between total dietary insoluble fiber and the risk of new-onset hypertension. As such, this prospective cohort study aimed to evaluate this interaction among general Chinese adults using data from the China Health and Nutrition survey (CHNS). Trained nutritionists collected dietary data from 12,131 participants through face-to-face interview to assess insoluble fiber sources. The primary outcome evaluated was new-onset hypertension which was defined as a systolic blood pressure greater than 140 mmHg or a diastolic blood pressure greater than 90 mmHg. Hypertension could also be determined through physician-diagnosis. The results of this study suggest that after a median follow-up of 6.1 years, 4252 participants developed hypertension. A higher insoluble fiber intake was significantly associated with a lower risk of new-onset hypertension (HR 0.5, 95%CI 0.45-0.55). This study concludes that consumption of more insoluble fibers can be beneficial from a hypertension standpoint. However, there are several limitations that should be noted. For instance, this study only used information from self-reported hypertension which my bias these results. As well, given that this study was conducted only in China, these results cannot be generalized to a broader population. Further confirmation of these findings by conducting multicenter controlled trials in various communities globally can be very informative regarding the benefits of dietary fiber on hypertension risk.

Click to read the study in BMC Medicine

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