scholarly journals High-Fiber Diet during Pregnancy Characterized by More Fruit and Vegetable Consumption

Nutrients ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 35
Author(s):  
Rachelle A. Pretorius ◽  
Debra J. Palmer

Higher dietary fiber intakes during pregnancy may have the potential health benefits of increasing gut microbiome diversity, lowering the risk of glucose intolerance and pre-eclampsia, achieving appropriate gestational weight gain, and preventing constipation. In this observational cohort study, we have assessed the dietary fiber intakes of 804 women in late pregnancy, using a semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire (SQ-FFQ). Overall, the median (interquartile range) dietary fiber intake was 24.1 (19.0–29.7) grams per day (g/day). Only 237/804 (29.5%) women met the recommended Adequate Intake (AI) of dietary fiber during pregnancy of 28 g/day. Women consuming the highest quartile of fiber intakes (34.8 (IQR 32.1–39.5) g/day) consumed more fruit, especially apples and bananas, than women consuming the lowest quartile of fiber intakes (15.9 (IQR 14.4–17.5) g/day). These women in the highest fiber-intake quartile were older (p < 0.01), more had completed further education after secondary school (p = 0.04), and they also consumed more vegetables (67 g/day) compared to the women in the lowest fiber consumption quartile (17 g vegetables/day). Bread intakes of 39–42 g/day were consistent in quantities consumed across all four fiber-intake quartiles. Our findings suggest that antenatal education advice targeting increased fruit and vegetable consumption before and during pregnancy may be a simple strategy to achieve increased total dietary fiber intakes to reach recommended quantities.

Author(s):  
Alireza Milajerdi ◽  
Nasser Ebrahimi-Daryani ◽  
Levinus A Dieleman ◽  
Bagher Larijani ◽  
Ahmad Esmaillzadeh

ABSTRACT No previous investigation has summarized findings from prospective cohort studies on the association between dietary intake of fiber, fruit, and vegetables and risk of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Dietary fiber and its major sources can influence the risk of IBD by modulation of the gut microbiota. This study summarizes findings from published cohort studies on the association between dietary fiber, fruit, and vegetable consumption and risk of IBD. Relevant articles published up to January 2019 were searched via PubMed, MEDLINE, Scopus, Embase, Cochrane Library, and Google Scholar. All prospective cohort studies investigating the association between dietary fiber, fruit, and vegetable intake and risk of IBD were included. Combining 7 effect sizes from 6 studies, no significant association was found between dietary intake of fiber and risk of ulcerative colitis (UC) (RR: 1.09; 95% CI: 0.88, 1.34). However, a significant inverse association was found between dietary fiber intake and risk of Crohn disease (CD) (RR: 0.59; 95% CI: 0.46, 0.74), based on 5 studies with 6 effect sizes. Pooling information from 4 studies, we found a significant protective association between dietary intake of fruit and risk of UC (RR: 0.69; 95% CI: 0.55, 0.86) and CD (RR: 0.47; 95% CI: 0.38, 0.58). We also found a significant inverse association between vegetable consumption and risk of UC (RR: 0.56; 95% CI: 0.48, 0.66) and CD (RR: 0.52; 95% CI: 0.46, 0.59). In conclusion, dietary intake of fruit and vegetables was inversely associated with risk of IBD and its subtypes. Dietary fiber intake was also inversely associated with incidence of IBD and CD, but not with UC. Further studies are warranted to examine the association of other fiber-rich foods with IBD.


2019 ◽  
Vol 51 (7) ◽  
pp. S18-S19
Author(s):  
Michele Polacsek ◽  
Alyssa Moran ◽  
Anne Thorndike ◽  
Rebecca Franckle ◽  
Rebecca Boulos ◽  
...  

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-3
Author(s):  
Joreintje Dingena Mackenbach

Abstract I reflect upon the potential reasons why American low-income households do not spend an optimal proportion of their food budgets on fruits and vegetables, even though this would allow them to meet the recommended levels of fruit and vegetable consumption. Other priorities than health, automatic decision-making processes and access to healthy foods play a role, but solutions for the persistent socio-economic inequalities in diet should be sought in the wider food system which promotes cheap, mass-produced foods. I argue that, ultimately, healthy eating is not a matter of prioritisation by individual households but by policymakers.


2021 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhi-Ming MAI ◽  
Roger Kai-Cheong NGAN ◽  
Dora Lai-Wan KWONG ◽  
Wai-Tong NG ◽  
Kam-Tong Yuen ◽  
...  

Abstract Background The role of dietary fiber intake on risk of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) remains unclear. We examined the associations of dietary fiber intake on the risk of NPC adjusting for a comprehensive list of potential confounders. Methods Using data from a multicenter case-control study, we included 815 histologically confirmed NPC incident cases and 1502 controls in Hong Kong, China recruited in 2014–2017. Odds ratios (ORs) of NPC (cases vs controls) for dietary fiber intake from different sources at different life periods (age 13–18, age 19–30, and 10 years before recruitment) were evaluated using unconditional logistic regression, adjusting for sex, age, socioeconomic status, smoking and drinking status, occupational hazards, family history of cancer, salted fish, and total energy intake in Model 1, Epstein-Barr virus viral capsid antigen serological status in Model 2, and duration of sun exposure and circulating 25-hydroxyvitamin D in Model 3. Results Higher intake of total dietary fiber 10 years before recruitment was significantly associated with decreased NPC risk, with demonstrable dose-response relationship (P-values for trend = 0.001, 0.020 and 0.024 in Models 1–3, respectively). The adjusted ORs (95% CI) in the highest versus the lowest quartile were 0.51 (0.38–0.69) in Model 1, 0.48 (0.33–0.69) in Model 2, and 0.48 (0.33–0.70) in Model 3. However, the association was less clear after adjustment of other potential confounders (e.g. EBV) in the two younger periods (age of 13–18 and 19–30 years). Risks of NPC were significantly lower for dietary fiber intake from fresh vegetables and fruits and soybean products over all three periods, with dose-response relationships observed in all Models (P-values for trend for age 13–18, age 19–30 and 10 years before recruitment were, respectively, 0.002, 0.009 and 0.001 for Model1; 0.020, 0.031 and 0.003 for Model 2; and 0.022, 0.037 and 0.004 for Model 3). No clear association of NPC risk with dietary fiber intake from preserved vegetables, fruits and condiments was observed. Conclusion Our study has shown the protective role of dietary fiber from fresh food items in NPC risk, but no association for total dietary fiber intake was observed, probably because total intake also included intake of preserved food. Further studies with detailed dietary information and in prospective settings are needed to confirm this finding, and to explore the possible underlying biological mechanisms.


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