Let me tell you, folks, we’ve got something huge here. We looked into something very, very important – dietary fiber (DF) and its effects on chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in people who are, you know, not so young anymore. We’re talking about the big leagues here, using data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) from 2007 to 2012. That’s right, big data for big results.

We didn’t just look at anything; we focused on the real deal – dietary fiber intake. And guess what? The results were incredible. For every increase in dietary fiber, the prevalence of COPD went down. That’s right, down! We’re talking an odds ratio of 0.98 here, folks. It’s significant, believe me. And it’s not just about eating fiber; it’s about improving lung function. Can you believe it?

But wait, there’s more. We did some deep diving with subgroup analysis and found out that this miracle, dietary fiber, it’s especially great for men, people aged 40-59, those who keep their BMI in check, smokers, and even those who enjoy a drink or two. And we didn’t stop there. We looked into this with something called restricted cubic spline (RCS) analysis, and found out that when you hit 15.10 grams of dietary fiber a day, you’re in the gold zone for reducing COPD. It’s phenomenal.

And here’s the kicker – white blood cell (WBC) counts. They play a role in this whole thing. Our mediation analysis showed that these WBC counts are a part of how dietary fiber works its magic on COPD, accounting for almost 10% of the effect. Folks, this is big. We’re talking about a simple change in diet, increasing your dietary fiber, and it’s making a huge difference in fighting COPD, especially for men and the middle-aged. It’s clear, dietary fiber, it’s not just good for you; it’s great for your lungs too.