Fiber may be more important that you thought..

We all know we should eat more fiber.  Eating more of it could help you live longer, but the kind of fiber you eat may be key. The findings came via a study released last week in the Archives of Internal Medicine. Researchers used data from the National Institutes of Health-AARP Diet and Health study that asked people ages 50 to 71 what they ate for the last year and how often they ate it. Diets high in fiber were linked with a lower risk of death from all causes, as well as death from cardiovascular disease, infectious diseases and respiratory diseases in men and women. Eating fiber was associated with a lower death risk from cancer for men, but the same was not seen in women.
When researchers looked at the effects of the various types of fiber they were eating, they found that consuming grains — whole wheat, oats, barley — was most associated with lower risk of all types of death, plus death from cardiovascular disease, cancer and respiratory disease for men and women.

One theory for the link may be that dietary fiber may have anti-inflammatory properties, and inflammation is often associated with infectious and respiratory diseases. “A diet rich in dietary fiber from whole plant foods may provide significant health benefits,” the authors wrote.

Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/02/22/2078043/study-links-high-fiber-diet-to.html#ixzz1EhVVSmUt