Fruit, vegetable, and legume intake, and cardiovascular disease and deaths in 18 countries (PURE): a prospective cohort study
Authors: Victoria Miller, Andrew Mente, Mahshid Dehghan, Sumathy Rangarajan, Xiaohe Zhang, Sumathi Swaminathan, Gilles Dagenais, Rajeev Gupta, Viswanathan Mohan, Scott Lear, Shrikant I Bangdiwala, Aletta E Schutte, Edelweiss Wentzel-Viljoen, Alvaro Avezum, Yuksel Altuntas, Khalid Yusoff, Noorhassim Ismail, Nasheeta Peer, Jephat Chifamba, Rafael Diaz, Omar Rahman, Noushin Mohammadifard, Fernando Lana, Katarzyna Zatonska, Andreas Wielgosz, Afzalhussein Yusufali, Romaina Iqbal, Patricio Lopez-Jaramillo, Rasha Khatib, Annika Rosengren, V Raman Kutty, Wei Li, Jiankang Liu, Xiaoyun Liu, Lu Yin, Koon Teo, Sonia Anand, Salim Yusuf, R Diaz, A Orlandini, B Linetsky, S Toscanelli, G Casaccia, JM Maini Cuneo, O Rahman, R Yusuf, AK Azad, KA Rabbani, HM Cherry, A Mannan, I Hassan, AT Talukdar, RB Tooheen, MU Khan, M Sintaha, T Choudhury, R Haque, S Parvin, A Avezum, GB Oliveira, CS Marcilio, AC Mattos, K Teo, S Yusuf, J Dejesus, D Agapay, T Tongana, R Solano, I Kay, S Trottier, J Rimac, W Elsheikh, L Heldman, E Ramezani, G Dagenais, P Poirier, G Turbide, D Auger, A LeBlanc De Bluts, MC Proulx, M Cayer, N Bonneville, S Lear, D Gasevic, E Corber, V de Jong, I Vukmirovich, A Wielgosz, G Fodor, A Pipe, A Shane, F Lanas, P Seron, S Martinez, A Valdebenito, M Oliveros, Li Wei, Liu Lisheng, Chen Chunming, Wang Xingyu, Zhao Wenhua, Zhang Hongye, Jia Xuan, Hu Bo, Sun Yi, Bo Jian, Zhao Xiuwen, Chang Xiaohong, Chen Tao, Chen Hui, Chang Xiaohong, Deng Qing, Cheng Xiaoru, Deng Qing, He Xinye, Hu Bo, Jia Xuan, Li Jian, Li Juan, Liu Xu, Ren Bing, Sun Yi, Wang Wei, Wang Yang, Yang Jun, Zhai Yi, Zhang Hongye, Zhao Xiuwen, Zhu Manlu, Lu Fanghong, Wu Jianfang, Li Yindong, Hou Yan, Zhang Liangqing, Guo Baoxia, Liao Xiaoyang, Zhang Shiying, Bian Rongwen, Tian Xiuzhen, Li Dong, Chen Di, Wu Jianguo, Xiao Yize, Liu Tianlu, Zhang Peng, Dong Changlin, Li Ning, Ma Xiaolan, Yang Yuqing, Lei Rensheng, Fu Minfan, He Jing, Liu Yu, Xing Xiaojie, Zhou Qiang, P Lopez-Jaramillo, PA Camacho Lopez, R Garcia, LJA Jurado, D Gómez-Arbeláez, JF Arguello, R Dueñas, S Silva, LP Pradilla, F Ramirez, DI Molina, C Cure-Cure, M Perez, E Hernandez, E Arcos, S Fernandez, C Narvaez, J Paez, A Sotomayor, H Garcia, G Sanchez, T David, A Rico, P Mony, M Vaz, A V Bharathi, S Swaminathan, K Shankar AV Kurpad, KG Jayachitra, N Kumar, HAL Hospital, V Mohan, M Deepa, K Parthiban, M Anitha, S Hemavathy, T Rahulashankiruthiyayan, D Anitha, K Sridevi, R Gupta, RB Panwar, I Mohan, P Rastogi, S Rastogi, R Bhargava, R Kumar, J S Thakur, B Patro, PVM Lakshmi, R Mahajan, P Chaudary, V Raman Kutty, K Vijayakumar, K Ajayan, G Rajasree, AR Renjini, A Deepu, B Sandhya, S Asha, HS Soumya, R Kelishadi, A Bahonar, N Mohammadifard, H Heidari, K Yusoff, TST Ismail, KK Ng, A Devi, NM Nasir, MM Yasin, M Miskan, EA Rahman, MKM Arsad, F Ariffin, SA Razak, FA Majid, NA Bakar, MY Yacob, N Zainon, R Salleh, MKA Ramli, NA Halim, SR Norlizan, NM Ghazali, MN Arshad, R Razali, S Ali, HR Othman, CWJCW Hafar, A Pit, N Danuri, F Basir, SNA Zahari, H Abdullah, MA Arippin, NA Zakaria, I Noorhassim, MJ Hasni, MT Azmi, MI Zaleha, KY Hazdi, AR Rizam, W Sazman, A Azman, R Khatib, U Khammash, A Khatib, R Giacaman, R Iqbal, A Afridi, R Khawaja, A Raza, K Kazmi, W Zatonski, A Szuba, K Zatonska, R Ilow, M Ferus, B Regulska-Ilow, D Rózanska, M Wolyniec, None Alkamel, M Ali, M A Kruger, H H Voster, A E Schutte, E Wentzel-Viljoen, FC Eloff, H de Ridder, H Moss, J Potgieter, AA Roux, M Watson, G de Wet, A Olckers, JC Jerling, M Pieters, T Hoekstra, T Puoane, E Igumbor, L Tsolekile, D Sanders, P Naidoo, N Steyn, N Peer, B Mayosi, B Rayner, V Lambert, N Levitt, T Kolbe-Alexander, L Ntyintyane, G Hughes, R Swart, J Fourie, M Muzigaba, S Xapa, N Gobile, K Ndayi, B Jwili, K Ndibaza, B Egbujie, A Rosengren, K Bengtsson Boström, A Gustavsson, M Andreasson, M Snällman, L Wirdemann, A Oguz, N Imeryuz, Y Altuntas, S Gulec, A Temizhan, K Karsidag, KBT Calik, AAK Akalin, OT Caklili, MV Keskinler, AN Erbakan, AM Yusufali, W Almahmeed, H Swidan, EA Darwish, ARA Hashemi, N Al-Khaja, JM Muscat-Baron, SH Ahmed, TM Mamdouh, WM Darwish, MHS Abdelmotagali, SA Omer Awed, GA Movahedi, F Hussain, H Al Shaibani, RIM Gharabou, DF Youssef, AZS Nawati, ZAR Abu Salah, RFE Abdalla, SM Al Shuwaihi, MA Al Omairi, OD Cadigal, R.S. Alejandrino, J Chifamba, L Gwaunza, G Terera, C Mahachi, P Murambiwa, T Machiweni, R Mapanga
Journal: The Lancet (2017)

The association between intake of fruits, vegetables, and legumes with cardiovascular disease and deaths has been investigated extensively in Europe, the USA, Japan, and China, but little or no data are available from the Middle East, South America, Africa, or south Asia.We did a prospective cohort study (Prospective Urban Rural Epidemiology [PURE] in 135 335 individuals aged 35 to 70 years without cardiovascular disease from 613 communities in 18 low-income, middle-income, and high-income countries in seven geographical regions: North America and Europe, South America, the Middle East, south Asia, China, southeast Asia, and Africa. We documented their diet using country-specific food frequency questionnaires at baseline. Standardised questionnaires were used to collect information about demographic factors, socioeconomic status (education, income, and employment), lifestyle (smoking, physical activity, and alcohol intake), health history and medication use, and family history of cardiovascular disease. The follow-up period varied based on the date when recruitment began at each site or country. The main clinical outcomes were major cardiovascular disease (defined as death from cardiovascular causes and non-fatal myocardial infarction, stroke, and heart failure), fatal and non-fatal myocardial infarction, fatal and non-fatal strokes, cardiovascular mortality, non-cardiovascular mortality, and total mortality. Cox frailty models with random effects were used to assess associations between fruit, vegetable, and legume consumption with risk of cardiovascular disease events and mortality.Participants were enrolled into the study between Jan 1, 2003, and March 31, 2013. For the current analysis, we included all unrefuted outcome events in the PURE study database through March 31, 2017. Overall, combined mean fruit, vegetable and legume intake was 3·91 (SD 2·77) servings per day. During a median 7·4 years (5·5-9·3) of follow-up, 4784 major cardiovascular disease events, 1649 cardiovascular deaths, and 5796 total deaths were documented. Higher total fruit, vegetable, and legume intake was inversely associated with major cardiovascular disease, myocardial infarction, cardiovascular mortality, non-cardiovascular mortality, and total mortality in the models adjusted for age, sex, and centre (random effect). The estimates were substantially attenuated in the multivariable adjusted models for major cardiovascular disease (hazard ratio [HR] 0·90, 95% CI 0·74-1·10, ptrend=0·1301), myocardial infarction (0·99, 0·74-1·31; ptrend=0·2033), stroke (0·92, 0·67-1·25; ptrend=0·7092), cardiovascular mortality (0·73, 0·53-1·02; ptrend=0·0568), non-cardiovascular mortality (0·84, 0·68-1·04; ptrend =0·0038), and total mortality (0·81, 0·68-0·96; ptrend<0·0001). The HR for total mortality was lowest for three to four servings per day (0·78, 95% CI 0·69-0·88) compared with the reference group, with no further apparent decrease in HR with higher consumption. When examined separately, fruit intake was associated with lower risk of cardiovascular, non-cardiovascular, and total mortality, while legume intake was inversely associated with non-cardiovascular death and total mortality (in fully adjusted models). For vegetables, raw vegetable intake was strongly associated with a lower risk of total mortality, whereas cooked vegetable intake showed a modest benefit against mortality.Higher fruit, vegetable, and legume consumption was associated with a lower risk of non-cardiovascular, and total mortality. Benefits appear to be maximum for both non-cardiovascular mortality and total mortality at three to four servings per day (equivalent to 375-500 g/day).Full funding sources listed at the end of the paper (see Acknowledgments).