MONDAY, Dec. 30, 2013 (HealthDay News) -- For Japanese patients with type 2 diabetes, increased dietary fiber and fruit and vegetable intake is associated with reduced risk of stroke, according to a study published in the December issue of Diabetes Care.

Shiro Tanaka, Ph.D., from Kyoto University in Japan, and colleagues examined the correlation between fiber-rich food consumption and cardiovascular disease in a cohort of 1,414 patients with type 2 diabetes without history of cardiovascular disease, aged 40 to 70 years, and whose hemoglobin A1c values were ≥6.5 percent. Participants completed a dietary survey.

During a median follow-up of 8.1 years, the researchers identified 68 strokes and 96 cases of coronary heart disease. Intake of dietary fiber in the fourth versus the first quartile was associated with a hazard ratio of 0.39 for stroke (P = 0.12),; for fruits and vegetable intake, the hazard ratio was 0.35 (P = 0.04). No significant associations were observed for coronary heart disease. Per 1-gram increase, the hazard ratio for soluble fiber was smaller (0.48; P < 0.01) than for total or insoluble dietary fiber (0.82 and 0.79, respectively; P < 0.01).

"Increased dietary fiber, particularly soluble fiber, and vegetables and fruits were associated with lower incident stroke but not coronary heart disease in patients with type 2 diabetes," the authors write.

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