Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is defined as “a slowly progressive disease of the airways that is characterized by a gradual loss of lung function”. It is the fifth-leading cause of death worldwide (1). While 12.1 million adults ages 25 and older were diagnosed with COPD in 2001, it’s estimated that another 24 million adults have evidence of impaired lung function. In 2001 alone, COPD cost our healthcare system over $32 billion (2).

Natural ways to help maintain lung health include omega-3 fatty acids (3), creatine (4), trace elements (5), N-Acetyl-Cysteine (6), soy (7). Now a new study (8) has found that fiber, found in 2007 (9) to improve several measures of lung health, continues to be beneficial.

In the study, researchers looked at data on 111,580 US women and men from the Nurses’ Health Study and Health Professionals Follow-up Study (9). Data on their fiber intake was obtained through food frequency questionnaires. After adjusting for 11 factors that included age, sex, smoking, body mass index, physical activity, diabetes, and omega-3 intake, those with the highest intake of total fiber (more than 28.4 grams per day) had a 33% reduced risk of COPD compared to those with the lowest intake of total fiber per day (less than 11.2 grams per day).

When they looked at specific sources of fiber, only cereal fiber had a significant effect on lung health. Specifically, cereal fiber constituted 27% of total fiber intake and produced a 23% reduced COPD risk in the highest intake group (>9.0 grams/day) compared to the lowest intake of cereal fiber (