Lower fiber intake tied to higher risk for later inflammatory bowel disease

by Lori Solomon

Higher consumption of dietary fiber was associated with a lower risk for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), according to a study published online July 18 in Alimentary Pharmacology and Therapeutics.

Minzi Deng, Ph.D., from Central South University in Changsha, China, and colleagues examined associations between dietary fiber intake and subsequent incidence of IBD, Crohn disease, and ulcerative colitis. The analysis included 470,669 participants from the U.K. Biobank.

The researchers found that during an average follow-up of 12.1 years, there was an inverse association between dietary fiber intake and risk for IBD (lowest versus highest quintile: hazard ratio, 0.74; 95% confidence interval, 0.58 to 0.93; P = 0.011) and Crohn’s disease (hazard ratio, 0.48; 95% confidence interval, 0.32 to 0.72; P < 0.001). However, no association was seen with ulcerative colitis (hazard ratio, 0.92; 95% confidence interval, 0.69 to 1.24; P = 0.595). Dietary fiber intake from fruit and bread was associated with lower risk for Crohn disease, while dietary fiber intake from cereal decreased the risk for ulcerative colitis.

“Our findings support current recommendations to increase the intake of dietary fiber,” the authors write. “Further studies are needed to obtain more epidemiological evidence from other populations and explore the potential role and mechanisms for specified dietary fiber intake sources in preventing different subtypes and phenotypes of IBD.”