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Epidemiology

Diet and risk of chronic diseases: results from the first 8 years of follow-up in the EPIC-Potsdam study

Abstract

Background/Objectives:

There is still a need for scientific evidence about which foods characterize a healthy diet in terms of primary prevention of major chronic diseases. Therefore, we aimed to give a comprehensive overview on health-related foods, based on 8 years of follow-up of the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC)-Potsdam study.

Subjects/Methods:

We used data from 23 531 participants of the EPIC-Potsdam study to analyse the associations between 45 single food groups and risk of major chronic diseases, namely, cardiovascular diseases (CVD), type 2 diabetes and cancer using multivariable-adjusted Cox regression. Habitual dietary intake was assessed at baseline using food-frequency questionnaires. Incident chronic diseases were determined by self-administered follow-up questionnaires and medically verified, based on inquiry to treating physicians, cancer registries or through death certificates.

Results:

During follow-up, 363 incident CVD, 837 type 2 diabetes and 844 cancer cases were identified. Higher intakes of whole-grain bread, raw vegetables, coffee and cakes and cookies were found to be significantly associated with a lower risk of chronic diseases. Conversely, higher intakes of low-fat dairy, butter, red meat and sauce were associated with higher risks of chronic diseases.

Conclusion:

Overall, a healthy diet was characterized by a high consumption of whole-grain bread, raw vegetables and a low consumption of red meat and possibly butter, which is generally in line with previous findings. The paradoxical findings concerning the potential health benefit of coffee as well as cakes and cookies are interesting and should be investigated further.

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Acknowledgements

We thank all of the EPIC-Potsdam study participants. Furthermore, we thank Ellen Kohlsdorf and Wolfgang Bernigau for data management, and Wolfgang Fleischhauer for case ascertainment. We also offer our special thanks to Wolfgang Bernigau for his support in peforming the statistical analyses with SAS. The recruitment phase of the EPIC-Potsdam Study was supported by the Federal Ministry of Science, Germany (grant 01 EA 9401) and the ‘Europe against Cancer’ program of the European Community (grant SOC 95 201408 05F02). The EPIC-Potsdam Study is now supported by the German Cancer Aid (grant 70-2488-Ha I) and the European Community (grant SOC 98 200769 05F02).

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Correspondence to A von Ruesten.

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Contributors: AvR performed the analyses and wrote the paper. HB and MMB were responsible for the study design, data collection and provision of advice or consultation.All authors were responsible for critical review and revision of the manuscript.

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von Ruesten, A., Feller, S., Bergmann, M. et al. Diet and risk of chronic diseases: results from the first 8 years of follow-up in the EPIC-Potsdam study. Eur J Clin Nutr 67, 412–419 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/ejcn.2013.7

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