Heart attack survivors are more likely to live longer if they eat more fibre, a new study has found.

According to US scientists, more people are now surviving heart attacks therefore it is important to figure out if there are any specific lifestyle steps they can take, along with their medication, to improve their long-term outlook.

While it is already known that people who eat plenty of fibre are less likely to develop heart disease, until now, it was unclear whether fibre consumption after a heart attack improved survival rates.

The scientists analysed two studies involving almost 175,000 men and women. All of the participants had to complete detailed questionnaires about their lifestyle every two years.

The scientists then focused on more than 4,000 participants who had survived a first heart attack during the initial study periods. They were monitored for nine years and during this time, over 1,100 of them died.

The participants were divided into five groups, depending on how much fibre they consumed after their heart attack.

The study found that those who ate the most fibre had a 25% reduced risk of dying from any cause in the nine years after their heart attack, compared with the participants who ate the least amount.

In fact, every 10g increase in fibre per day was linked with a 15% lower risk of dying over the follow-up period.

When only heart-related deaths were taken into account, those who ate the most fibre had a 13% reduced risk of dying than those who ate the least amount.

Meanwhile, when the scientists looked at the three different fibre types - fruit, vegetables and cereal - they found that only higher cereal consumption was strongly linked with greater survival after a heart attack. The main source of this was via breakfast cereals.

According to the scientists from the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston, people who suffer a heart attack are often motivated to make changes in their lifestyle, however, medical treatment often neglects the importance of lifestyle changes and instead focuses on long-term medication.

"Future research on lifestyle changes post-heart attack should focus on a combination of lifestyle changes and how they may further reduce mortality rates beyond what is achievable by medical management alone," the team said.

Details of these findings are published in the British Medical Journal.

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