Dietary fibre, nuts and cardiovascular diseases

Dietary fibre has a range of metabolic health benefits. Through a variety of mechanisms, dietary fibre, and the viscous variety in particular, slows down gastric emptying and intestinal transit, decreases the rate of intestinal carbohydrate absorption, and increases faecal bile acid excretion. Therefore, consumption of some types of soluble fibre can enhance satiety, which is associated with a lower BMI, and reduce blood cholesterol and the postprandial glucose response. Surprisingly, the consumption of insoluble fibre from whole grains, though metabolically inert, has been associated with a reduction in the risk of developing coronary heart disease and diabetes in epidemiological studies. The likely reason is that whole grains, like nuts, legumes and other edible seeds, contain many bioactive phytochemicals and various antioxidants. After cereals, nuts are the vegetable foods that are richest in fibre, which may partly explain their benefit on the lipid profile and cardiovascular health. After decades of clinical and epidemiological research, there is a general consensus about the overall dietary pattern which is best associated with good cardiovascular health. This pattern consists of a high intake of plant foods (whole-grain cereals, vegetables, legumes, fruit and nuts) and fish, habitual use of unsaturated oils and fats, a low intake of animal fats (including meat and meat products, and enriched dairies) and manufactured foods rich in fat and/or simpl