February 27/New Delhi, India/The Times of India -- A diet having excessive fiber, particularly the kind from whole grains, can help you live longer, a new study has claimed.

Diets rich in fiber are already linked to multiple health benefits, including preventing gastrointestinal disorders, diabetes, heart disease and cancer.

The study, published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, found that eating lots of dietary fiber reduces a person's risk of dying from heart disease, infections, and respiratory diseases.

"Prior studies have focussed on the relationship between fiber intake and cardiovascular disease. A few have examined the link between dietary fiber and mortality," says Yikyung Park, the author of the study and a member of a renowned cancer research facility. He says, "Our analysis adds to the literature and suggests that dietary fiber is associated with a decreased likelihood of mortality."

The amount of fiber people in the study ate ranged from 13-29g per day in men and from 11-26g per day in women.

Over nine years of follow-up, 20,126 men and 11,330 women died.

The researchers found that men and women who ate the most fiber were 22% less likely to die over the nine years than people who ate the least fiber.

Moreover, the risk of cardiovascular and respiratory disease was cut 24% to 56% among men who ate the most fiber and reduced by 34% to 59% among women, Park's group found.

From the March 1, 2011, Prepared Foods' Daily News
For more of the latest news from the food and beverage industry, visit Prepared Foods' Daily News