Dietary fiber intake and retinal vascular caliber in the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study

Abstract

Background: Dietary fiber appears to decrease the risk of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. Microvascular abnormalities can be observed by retinal examination and contribute to the pathogenesis of various cardiovascular diseases. The impact of dietary fiber on the retinal microvasculature is not known. Objective: We aimed to examine the association between dietary fiber intake and retinal vascular caliber. Design: At the third visit (1993)(1994)(1995) of the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) Study, a population-based cohort of adults in 4 US communities, the retinal vascular caliber of 10 659 participants was measured and summarized from digital retinal photographs. Usual dietary intake during the same period was assessed with a 66-item food-frequency questionnaire. Results: After control for potential confounders including hypertension, diabetes, lipids, demographic factors, cigarette smoking, total energy intake, micronutrients intake, and other cardiovascular disease risk factors, higher intake of fiber from all sources and from cereal were significantly associated with wider retinal arteriolar caliber and narrower venular caliber. Participants in the highest quintile of fiber intake from all sources had a 1.05-m larger arteriolar caliber (P for trend ҃ 0.012) and a 1.11-m smaller venular caliber (P for trend ҃ 0.029). Conclusions: Dietary fiber was related to wider retinal arteriolar caliber and narrower venular caliber, which are associated with a lower risk of cardiovascular disease. These data add to the growing evidence of the benefits of fiber intake on various aspects of cardiovascular pathogenesis.Am J Clin Nutr 2007;86:1626 -32.

Fiber intake predicts ghrelin levels in overweight and obese postmenopausal women

“…Studies have also demonstrated that subjects displaying a greater magnitude of TotG and AG reduction during the clamp display better metabolic profiles (7). In addition, increased fiber intake has been associated with a reduced risk for both type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease (22)(23)(24). In the present study, high fiber intake was positively associated with increased ghrelin levels in the fasted state as well as AG and TotG AUC values during the EHC.…”

“…In addition, epidemiological studies demonstrated that high fiber uptake has a beneficial effect on body weight (21), and could help lower the risks of both diabetes (22) and cardiovascular diseases (23,24). Furthermore, fiber consumption has been shown to promote satiety through modulation of the perception of satiety (21).…”

A Posteriori–Derived Dietary Patterns and Retinal Vessel Caliber in an Elderly Population

“…Increased intakes of dietary fiber and fish have been independently and significantly associated with wider arteriole caliber and narrower venule caliber. [36][37][38] While current evidence is limited to crosssectional observation, it is possible that specific nutrients and/or foods may have more influence on the microvasculature than overall dietary intake. If this is the case, the DP approach, although a potentially useful way of capturing the complexity of overall diet, may dilute any effect of a specific nutrient/ food, 39 and therefore the true association between dietary factors and retinal vessel measurement may be obscured.…”

Increasing fruit and vegetable intake has no effect on retinal vessel caliber in adults at high risk of developing cardiovascular disease

“…These studies have reported inverse relationships between retinal vessel abnormalities and some dietary constituents such as dietary fibre [18], fish [19] and dairy intake [20]. However, adherence to a healthy or unhealthy derived dietary pattern was not found to be related to retinal vessel caliber measurement in European older adults [21].…”