Dietary Fibre for the Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) remains the major cause of mortality worldwide. The importance of diet in optimising cardiovascular health has been illustrated in various studies. The role of dietary fibre in CVD prevention remains debatable. Dietary fibre helps to reduce total cardiovascular risk by engendering better cholesterol level and blood pressure, for example. The observed benefits, particularly for CVD mortality, seem to correlate with the level of dietary fibre intake in a dose-response fashion. Total aversion to foods with carbohydrates could potentially restrict the sources of dietary fibre that are available, particularly whole grain products which are recommended in the Mediterranean diet and the Eat-Lancet report on healthy diets. Further high-quality nutrition research is required to discern the absolute benefits of dietary fibre for CVD prevention. This may have implications for total healthcare expenditure, by means of public health and prevention policy that would serve to reduce the global burden of CVD.