• Ute Nöthlings, Matthias B Schulze, Cornelia Weikert, Heiner Boeing, Yvonne T van der Schouw, Christina Bamia, Vasiliki Benetou, Pagona Lagiou, Vittorio Krogh, Joline W J Beulens, Petra H M Peeters, Jytte Halkjaer, Anne Tjønneland, Rosario Tumino, Salvatore Panico, Giovanna Masala, Francoise Clavel-Chapelon, Blandine de Lauzon, Marie-Christine Boutron-Ruault, Marie-Noël Vercambre, Rudolf Kaaks, Jakob Linseisen, Kim Overvad, Larraitz Arriola, Eva Ardanaz, Carlos A Gonzalez, Marie-Jose Tormo, Sheila Bingham, Kay-Tee Khaw, Tim J A Key, Paolo Vineis, Elio Riboli, Pietro Ferrari, Paolo Boffetta, H Bas Bueno-de-Mesquita, Daphne L van der A, Göran Berglund, Elisabet Wirfält, Göran Hallmans, Ingegerd Johansson, Eiliv Lund, and Antonia Trichopoulo.
• Department of Epidemiology, German Institute of Human Nutrition Potsdam-Rehbruecke, Nuthetal, 14558 Germany. ute.noethlings@dife.de
• J. Nutr. 2008 Apr 1; 138 (4): 775-81.

AbstractWe examined the associations of intake of vegetables, legumes and fruit with all-cause and cause-specific mortality in a population with prevalent diabetes in Europe. A cohort of 10,449 participants with self-reported diabetes within the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition study was followed for a mean of 9 y. Intakes of vegetables, legumes, and fruit were assessed at baseline between 1992 and 2000 using validated country-specific questionnaires. A total of 1346 deaths occurred. Multivariate relative risks (RR) for all-cause mortality were estimated in Cox regression models and RR for cause-specific mortality were derived in a competing risk model. An increment in intake of total vegetables, legumes, and fruit of 80 g/d was associated with a RR of death from all causes of 0.94 [95% CI 0.90-0.98]. Analyzed separately, vegetables and legumes were associated with a significantly reduced risk, whereas nonsignificant inverse associations for fruit intake were observed. Cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality and mortality due to non-CVD/non-cancer causes were significantly inversely associated with intake of total vegetables, legumes, and fruit (RR 0.88 [95% CI 0.81-0.95] and 0.90 [0.82-0.99], respectively) but not cancer mortality (1.08 [0.99-1.17]). Intake of vegetables, legumes, and fruit was associated with reduced risks of all-cause and CVD mortality in a diabetic population. The findings support the current state of evidence from general population studies that the protective potential of vegetable and fruit intake is larger for CVD than for cancer and suggest that diabetes patients may benefit from a diet high in vegetables and fruits.

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