Tip: Dietary fiber can reduce death risk

Having spaghetti tonight? If you use whole-wheat pasta, you may live a whole lot longer. A new study conducted by the National Cancer Institute concluded that eating foods rich in dietary fiber may reduce the risk of dying from one or more of myriad diseases.

Fiber is abundant in fruits, vegetables and whole grains. The study found that whole grains and beans appeared to be especially beneficial. In a cup of cooked lentils, there are 16 grams of fiber, almost the recommended daily amount for a woman older than 50. Other high-fiber foods include raspberries (8 grams per cup) and bran flakes (7 grams per cup). As for pasta, a cup of cooked whole-wheat spaghetti has 6 grams of fiber compared to only 2 grams in a cup of regular spaghetti.

For a list of high-fiber foods, go to mayoclinic.com and type "fiber foods" in the search box.