Only 15% Of People Age “Successfully” And It All Has To Do With Fiber

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As humans, most of us want to live in good health for as long as possible. That’s also why we do all these health-increasing activities. We eat plant-based and exercise often. However, sometimes research shows us that the most effective ways of improving our health are right under our noses.

At least, that’s what I would say about research done by Australian researchers. The Gerontological Society of America published the research. In it, the researchers tried to find which factors influenced ”successful aging” the most.

What Is Successful Aging?

Good question. The research defines successful aging as the lack of disability, depression, and cognitive impairment. It also means the lack of respiratory symptoms and chronic diseases, like cancer and heart disease. In other words, a person who didn’t get any serious health issues (or died) throughout their research.

What Did They Discover?

In total, the researchers followed 1609 participants for 10 years. All of them were at least 49 years old.

They found that, of all the factors they looked at, which included a person’s total carbohydrate intake, total fiber intake, glycemic index, glycemic load, and sugar intake, fiber made the biggest difference. It affected what the researchers called “successful aging.”

This is what the  lead author of the paper, Associate Professor Bamini Gopinath had to say:

“Out of all the variables that we looked at, fiber intake — which is a type of carbohydrate that the body can’t digest — had the strongest influence,” she said. “Essentially, we found that those who had the highest intake of fiber or total fiber actually had an almost 80 percent greater likelihood of living a long and healthy life over a 10-year follow-up. That is, they were less likely to suffer from hypertension, diabetes, dementia, depression, and functional disability.”

Associate Professor Bamini Gopinath, PhD

What’s more, of the 1609 people that were followed during the study, only 249 of them aged successfully. That’s only 15.5%! 750 of them didn’t age successfully and the other 610 people died during the study.

Why Does Fiber Seem To Have This Great Effect?

There are several reasons why eating fiber might help with aging. First, as people get older, they often have more body inflammation. Also, their metabolism slows down. Fiber might help lower spikes in blood sugar after meals. These spikes can cause damage from free radicals and raise inflammation.

Also, when fiber is broken down in the gut, it makes short-chain fatty acids. They can reduce inflammation by interacting with certain receptors in the body. Studies have shown that eating more fiber or whole grains is usually linked to lower levels of inflammation.

Does All Fiber Have An Anti-Aging Effect?

This information is very interesting. But, it made me wonder if all fiber is equal. Luckily, the researchers also have an answer to this. It’s relevant for older adults.

Among older adults, fiber from fruits and breads/cereals (primarily from rolled oats and wholemeal/wholegrain breads), but not from vegetables independently predicted successful aging.

This suggests that the influence of dietary fiber on health and aging could vary depending on the food sources which are consistent with prior studies that have shown varying effects of fiber from different sources on cardiovascular outcomes and kidney disease 

Source

In other words, fiber from fruits, breads, and cereals does have an anti-aging effect for older adults, but fiber from vegetables does not seem to have this effect. Once again this shows how important it is to eat a varied diet.

How Much Fiber Should You Eat Daily?

Women should aim for about 25 grams of fiber per day, while men should target about 38 grams. This is a lot. The average American only gets 10 – 15 grams of fiber each day. That’s not even half of the recommended intake.

Also, be aware that eating a plant-based diet does increase fiber intake. However, that doesn’t automatically mean that you’re eating enough of it. I’ve had times in my journey where I learned that I was well below the recommended value. For situations like those, I like to keep some fiber powder around. That way I can always make sure I hit my fiber intake (and get all those anti-aging benefits!)

Stefan K.

Stefan has been vegan since 2019 and has been regularly working on his strength since the beginning of 2023. He’s on a mission to help other vegans get stronger and have all of them achieve the quality of life they deserve.