Fruit and Vegetable Consumption and Mortality

Abstract

In this study, the relation between fruit and vegetable consumption and mortality was investigated within the European Prospective Investigation Into Cancer and Nutrition. Survival analyses were performed, including 451,151 participants from 10 European countries, recruited between 1992 and 2000 and followed until 2010. Hazard ratios, rate advancement periods, and preventable proportions to respectively compare risk of death between quartiles of consumption, to estimate the period by which the risk of death was postponed among high consumers, and to estimate proportions of deaths that could be prevented if all participants would shift their consumption 1 quartile upward. Consumption of fruits and vegetables was inversely associated with all-cause mortality (for the highest quartile, hazard ratio = 0.90, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.86, 0.94), with a rate advancement period of 1.12 years (95% CI: 0.70, 1.54), and with a preventable proportion of 2.95%. This association was driven mainly by cardiovascular disease mortality (for the highest quartile, hazard ratio = 0.85, 95% CI: 0.77, 0.93). Stronger inverse associations were observed for participants with high alcohol consumption or high body mass index and suggested in smokers. Inverse associations were stronger for raw than for cooked vegetable consumption. These results support the evidence that fruit and vegetable consumption is associated with a lower risk of death.

Consumption of berries, fruits and vegetables and mortality among 10,000 Norwegian men followed for four decades

“…In spite of the aforementioned weaknesses and limitations, our results on total v, f & b intake are consistent with the findings from a large Swedish study on all-cause mortality, where more modern FFQs were used [6], with the results from a recent health survey in England [29], with the results from the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) study [9] and also with the conclusion of the WHO report from 2005 [5]. Our result is, however, in contrast with former studies when regarding an inverse association with intake of vegetables (raw and cooked) [9,29].…”

“…This could be explained by the Norwegian eating habits in the 1960s and earlier, as most vegetables probably have been cooked. Earlier studies have shown a weaker inverse association between mortality and consumption of cooked vegetables, compared with raw vegetables [9].…”

“…Low fruit and vegetable intake has further been estimated to cause 7 % of all cancers, 17 % of stomach cancer and 11 % of lung cancer for men [8]. Still, the impact of vegetables and fruit consumption on risk of major diseases is debated, especially its impact on cancer risk, and more specific the risk of cancer in the digestive system [4,[9][10][11].…”

“…Often studies include berries as a fruit [2,6,9]. In Norway, it is estimated that berries contribute 27 % of the total intake of plant antioxidants, whereas fruits contribute 44 % and vegetables 9 % [16].…”

Potatoes and risk of chronic disease: a systematic review and dose–response meta-analysis

“…Six prospective cohort studies were included for all-cause mortality [29][30][31][32][33][34], seven prospective cohort studies (five reports) for CHD [14,[35][36][37][38], six prospective cohort studies (four reports) for stroke [14,37,39,40], two prospective cohort studies (one report) for heart failure [14], eight prospective cohort studies (seven reports) for CRC [41][42][43][44][45][46][47], eight prospective studies (seven prospective cohort studies, one RCT analysed as prospective cohort study) (six reports) for T2D [48][49][50][51][52][53], and four studies (two reports) for hypertension [10,54] (ESM Table 1). …”