Vegetable Intake and Long-term Survival among Middle-aged Men in Italy

PURPOSE: To examine prospectively the relationship between vegetable consumption and long-term survival. METHODS: In 1965, a total of 1536 Italian males from two Italian rural cohorts of the Seven Countries Study, aged 45–65 years, were examined. Information on lifestyle and food consumption collected at this visit, and total and cause-specific mortality data collected in 30 years of follow-up were analyzed for the present study. RESULTS: During a period of 30 years, 1096 deaths occurred (308 from coronary heart disease, 325 from cancer, 158 from cerebrovascular disease and 305 from all other causes). The age-adjusted life expectancy for men consuming more than 60 g/day of vegetables was nearly 2 years longer than for men consuming less than 20 g/day. This increase in survival was more striking in smokers than nonsmokers (2.1 vs. a 1 year gain). The association also held for both geographic cohorts, although the pattern of vegetable consumption was very different in the two villages. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest a positive association between vegetable intake and life expectancy. Vegetable intake may be especially protective for smokers although the biological explanation for such an effect is unclear.