Anyone running a health food restaurant or even selling lots of whole wheat bagels and bran muffins can have reason to rejoice. It turns out that not only is it healthy in the short term to eat plenty of fiber, but a new study says it can help you live longer as well.
Not Just Cardiovascular Disease
The massive study, which followed 388,000 adults aged 50 to 71 was conducted by the National Institutes of Health along with the Association of American Retired Persons (better known by their acronym, AARP).
The study followed these people for a total of nine years and found that those who ate more fiber had a 22 percent smaller chance of dying from anything (not just cardiovascular disease as might be initially assumed) than those who ate the least amounts of daily fiber.
Few Americans Get Enough Fiber
It should come as no surprise to those who run health food restaurants that most Americans simply don’t eat enough fiber with their diets. No matter how much we may try to make it sound tasty and healthy, the Big Mac always seems to be more tempting for many of our would-be customers.
Other Factors Accounted For
Lest you think by the way that those who had eaten more fiber simply led healthier lifestyles in general (a valid question), the researches specifically took all other factors into account in figuring out the results of their study.
They were able to account for everything from smoking to weight to education level and still found the same results – fiber literally saves lives.
How You Could Benefit
The best thing would be to simply include a little mention of the study somewhere in your restaurant’s advertising and how you offer plenty of high fiber options. This way, your customers can make the choice to eat healthier and (hopefully) live longer.
Tags: health food, high fiber, long life study
Jim Balis' Blog 
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