Whole grain and cereal fiber intake and the risk of type 2 diabetes: a meta-analysis

In recent years, cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) have become a focus topic and global concern. There have been mixed reports on the relationship between whole grain or cereal fiber intake and the risk of type 2 diabetes. To evaluate whole grain or cereal intake on the risk of type 2 diabetes, we collected related literature on the relationship between whole grain or cereal fiber intake and the risk of type 2 diabetes. Methods: Eligible studies were identified from PubMed, Web of Science, and EBSCO (from 2007 to 2015). A total of three studies on whole grains were included, three studies about cereal fiber, and two on both whole grains and cereal fiber. We calculated the summary relative risks (RRs) using the random effects model. Eight studies contained 14,728 type 2 diabetes cases out of 434,903 subjects. Whole grain or cereal fiber intake is associated with type 2 diabetes (the overall RR was 0.68; 95% CI was 0.64-0.73) with significant heterogeneity in study-specific estimates (I² =0%, P=0.452). Whole grain and cereal fiber intake are inversely associated with the risk of type 2 diabetes.