Dietary fiber intake and risk factors for cardiovascular disease in French adults.

BACKGROUND Increased consumption of dietary fiber is widely recommended to maintain or improve health, but knowledge of the relation between dietary fiber sources and cardiovascular disease risk factors is limited. OBJECTIVE We examined the relation between the source or type of dietary fiber intake and cardiovascular disease risk factors in a cohort of adult men and women. DESIGN In a cross-sectional study, quintiles of fiber intake were determined from dietary records, separately for 2532 men and 3429 women. Age- and multivariate-controlled logistic models investigated the odds ratios of abnormal markers for quintiles 2-5 of fiber intake compared with the lowest quintile. RESULTS The highest total dietary fiber and nonsoluble dietary fiber intakes were associated with a significantly (P < 0.05) lower risk of overweight and elevated waist-to-hip ratio, blood pressure, plasma apolipoprotein (apo) B, apo B:apo A-I, cholesterol, triacylglycerols, and homocysteine. Soluble dietary fiber was less effective. Fiber from cereals was associated with a lower body mass index, blood pressure, and homocysteine concentration; fiber from vegetables with a lower blood pressure and homocysteine concentration; and fiber from fruit with a lower waist-to-hip ratio and blood pressure. Fiber from dried fruit or nuts and seeds was associated with a lower body mass index, waist-to-hip ratio, and fasting apo B and glucose concentrations. Fiber from pulses had no specific effect. CONCLUSION Dietary fiber intake is inversely correlated with several cardiovascular disease risk factors in both sexes, which supports its protective role against cardiovascular disease and recommendations for its increased consumption.