A study shows that a fiber-rich diet is linked to a lower risk of painful knee osteoarthritis. It is also said that this is the first study that mainly focuses on the relations of fiber diet and the disease.
According to the study published online in Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases titled "Dietary intake of fiber and risk of knee osteoarthritis in two US prospective cohorts," a fibre-rich diet may not only help osteoarthritis also other health problems. This includes blood pressure, weight, systematic inflammation, and improved blood glucose control.
The findings drew on two different long-term studies that are in line with other studies on osteoarthritis and the health benefits of a fiber-rich diet. The researchers collated data from two US studies in a way of finding out if dietary fiber may have bearing on the risks of X-ray evidence of knee osteoarthritis, symptomatic knee osteoarthritis (x-ray evidence and symptoms, such as pain and stiffness), and worsening knee pain.
In an article published by Science Daily, the first of these studies was the Osteoarthritis Initiative. This is the study used in tracking the health of nearly 5,000 men and women in the US with the risk of the disease since 2004 to 2006.
Besides the study on osteoarthritis, the second study was part of the Framingham Offspring study. This cohort study was used in tracking the health of more than 1,200 participants of the original Framingham Heart Study and their partners since 1971.
In this study of fiber-related diet and osteoarthritis, the results are based on data first collated back in 1993 to 1994. This is when participants were ranging in age 54 from 2002 to 2005.
After four years, 4,051 participants in the Osteoarthritis Initiative with complete data on dietary fiber intake, it shows that 869 knees were symptomatic; 152 displayed x-ray evidence of osteoarthritis, and pain had worsened in 1964. On the other hand, 971 participants of the Framingham Offspring study with complete dietary fiber data shows that 143 knees were symptomatic and 175 displayed x-ray evidence of osteoarthritis.
"These data demonstrate a consistent protective association between total fiber intake and symptom-related knee [osteoarthritis] in two study populations with careful adjustment for potential confounders," the study reads. These findings are considered true regardless of other influential factors of the study.
