Can A High-Fibre Diet Increase Your Life Expectancy?

Can a high-fibre diet increase your life expectancy? Let’s dig in…

- Sisonke Labase

We all know that fibre is an important part of our diet because a daily intake helps with digestion and overall gut health. But, since 2011, various studies have been published on the benefits dietary fibre has on chronic illnesses. Also included in the studies are the links between a high-fibre diet and higher-life expectancy. The latest study by Andrew Reynolds, PhD titled: Carbohydrate quality and human health: a series of systematic reviews and meta-analyses, observes the following results: “Observational data suggest a 15%–30% decrease in all-cause and cardiovascular-related mortality, and incidence of coronary heart disease, stroke incidence and mortality, type 2 diabetes and colorectal cancer when comparing the highest dietary fibre consumer with the lowest consumers. Clinical trials show significantly lower body weight, systolic blood pressure and total cholesterol when comparing higher with lower intakes of dietary fibre.”

Additionally, a new study by National Institutes of Health reveals that if you consume fibre, found in wholegrains, beans, nuts, vegetables and fruits, you have a significantly lower risk of dying over a nine-year period compared with people who consume lower amounts.