Higher dietary fibre intake is associated with lower risk of inflammatory bowel disease: prospective cohort study

Abstract

SummaryBackgroundLimited prospective studies that have examined the association of dietary fibre with IBD have provided inconsistent evidence.AimTo examine any associations between dietary fibre intake and subsequent incidence of IBD, Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC)MethodsWe conducted a prospective cohort study of 470,669 participants from the UK Biobank and estimated dietary fibre intake from a valid food frequency questionnaire at baseline. Incident IBD was ascertained from primary care data and inpatient data. Cox proportional hazard models were used to estimate the hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for associations between dietary fibre intake and the risk of IBD, CD and UC.ResultsDuring an average follow‐up of 12.1 years, we ascertained 1473 incident IBD cases, including 543 cases of CD and 939 cases of UC. Comparing the lowest quintiles, an inverse association was observed between dietary fibre intake and risk of IBD (HR 0.74, 95% CI 0.58–0.93, p = 0.011) and CD (HR 0.48, 95% CI 0.32–0.72, p < 0.001), but not UC (HR 0.92, 95% CI 0.69–1.24, p = 0.595). For specified sources, dietary fibre intake from fruit and bread decreased the risk of CD, while dietary fibre intake from cereal decreased the risk of UC.ConclusionsHigher consumption of dietary fibre was associated with a lower risk of IBD and CD, but not UC. Our findings support current recommendations to increase the intake of dietary fibre.

Greater adherence to the Mediterranean Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay (MIND) diet is associated with lower risk of inflammatory bowel disease: a prospective cohort study

“…9 Subsequent consistent findings from our study in the UK Biobank confirmed these associations and further indicated the dominant protective role of fiber sourced from whole grains. 10 The beneficial role of whole grains was also observed in the current study. The MIND diet also emphasizes foods like olive oil, fish, berries and wine, rich in unsaturated fatty acids, polyphenols and flavonoids.…”

“…4 Specifically, a higher intake of saturated fats, 5 refined sugars, 6 and processed foods 7,8 has been reported to be associated with an increased risk of IBD. Conversely, diets rich in fruits, 9 vegetables, 9 cereal fiber, 10 and long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids 11 can confer protective effects against IBD.…”

Dietary Fiber in Inflammatory Bowel Disease: Are We Ready to Change the Paradigm?

“…Furthermore, health professionals giving nutritional advice should consider that an inadequate fiber intake is a matter of concern also in the healthy population compared with respective national guidelines, and a nutritional intervention in IBD patients should also require a dietary education in this specific area [ 43 , 44 , 45 , 46 ].…”

Dietary quercetin intake is associated with lower ulcerative colitis risk but not Crohn's disease in a prospective cohort study and in vivo experiments

“…24 Therefore, we used a single diagnostic code to identify IBD in the primary analysis. A stricter definition, using at least two diagnostic codes or one diagnostic code plus one prescription that was described in detail in a previous study, 25 was applied in a sensitivity analysis.…”