Research

Mixed

Higher dietary fiber intake is inversely associated with the risk of metabolic syndrome, with cross-sectional studies showing a pooled odds ratio of 0.70 for highest versus lowest intake categories.

To lower your risk of metabolic syndrome, aim for higher dietary fiber intake. Evidence suggests that consuming more fiber, particularly soluble fiber from sources like oats and legumes, is associated with a lower risk of metabolic syndrome. While the evidence is strongest in cross-sectional studies, the consistent inverse association supports increasing fiber as a key dietary strategy.

ModerateSupportsMEDIUM confidence
For the cross-sectional studies, the pooled OR was 0.70 (95% confidence interval (CI): 0.61–0.82)... Results from the original studies were reported as odds ratios (ORs) or relative ratios (RRs) of the MetS associated with different levels of dietary fiber intake, and the ORs/RRs comparing the highest with lowest categories of the intake were pooled.
Jiaping Chen et al. · Nutrients · 2017

Why this rating

High heterogeneity in cross-sectional studies and insufficient cohort data limit definitive conclusions.

Source

Dietary Fiber and Metabolic Syndrome: A Meta-Analysis and Review of Related Mechanisms

Jiaping Chen et al. · Nutrients · 2017

DOI 10.3390/nu10010024

Meta-analysis · 14 studiesCited 185×
Read the paper
DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10

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