A new meta-analysis examines 40 years’ worth of research in an attempt to find out the ideal amount of fiber that we should consume to prevent chronic disease and premature mortality.

Share on Pinterest Whole grain cereals and fruit are excellent sources of fiber.

Researchers and public health organizations have long hailed the benefits of eating fiber, but how much fiber should we consume, exactly?

This question has prompted the World Health Organization (WHO) to commission a new study. The results appear in the journal The Lancet.

The new research aimed to help develop new guidelines for dietary fiber consumption, as well as reveal which carbs protect the most against noncommunicable diseases and can stave off weight gain.

Noncommunicable diseases are also called chronic diseases. They typically last for a long time and progress slowly. According to WHO, there are “four main types of noncommunicable diseases:” cardiovascular diseases, cancer, chronic respiratory diseases, and diabetes.

Professor Jim Mann, of the University of Otago, in New Zealand, is the corresponding author of the study, and Andrew Reynolds, a postdoctoral research fellow at Otago’s Dunedin School of Medicine, is the first author of the paper.

Prof. Mann explains the motivation for the study, saying, “Previous reviews and meta-analyses have usually examined a single indicator of carbohydrate quality and a limited number of diseases, so it has not been possible to establish which foods to recommend for protecting against a range of conditions.”

To find out, the researchers performed a meta-analysis of observational studies and clinical trials.