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- Agudo, A, et al.
(author)
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Consumption of vegetables, fruit and other plant foods in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) cohorts from 10 European countries
- 2002
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In: Public Health Nutrition. - 1475-2727. ; 5:6B, s. 1179-1196
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Objective: To describe and compare the consumption of the main groups and subgroups of vegetables and fruits (V&F) in men and women from the centres participating in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC). Design: Cross-sectional analysis. Dietary intake was assessed by means of a 24-hour dietary recall using computerised interview software and standardised procedures. Crude and adjusted means were computed for the main groups and sub-groups of V&F by centre, separately for men and women. Adjusted means by season, day of the week and age were estimated using weights and covariance analysis. Setting: Twenty-seven centres in 10 European countries participating in the EPIC project. Subjects: In total, 35 955 subjects (13 031 men and 22 924 women), aged 35-74 years, randomly selected from each EPIC cohort. Results: The centres from southern countries had the highest consumption of V&F, while the lowest intake was seen in The Netherlands and Scandinavia for both genders. These differences were more evident for fruits, particularly citrus. However, slightly different patterns arose for some sub-groups of vegetables, such as root vegetables and cabbage. Adjustment for body mass index, physical activity, smoking habits and education did not substantially modify the mean intakes of vegetables and fruits. vegetable and fruit intake follows a south-north gradient in both Conclusions:. Total, genders, whereas for several sub-groups of vegetables a different geographic distribution exists. Differences in mean intake of V&F by centre were not explained by lifestyle factors associated with VF intake.
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- Al-Delaimy, WK, et al.
(author)
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Plasma carotenoids as biomarkers of intake of fruits and vegetables: ecological-level correlations in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC)
- 2005
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In: European Journal of Clinical Nutrition. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1476-5640 .- 0954-3007. ; 59:12, s. 1397-1408
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Objective: The aim of this study was to assess the ability of a single 24-h dietary recall (24HDR) and food questionnaires (FQ) to predict plasma carotenoid levels at the ecological level by assessing the relationship between mean plasma carotenoid levels and mean intake of fruit and vegetables measured by 24HDR and FQ across 16 European regions. Design: A random subsample of 3089 subjects was included, stratified by age and gender. They provided blood samples and dietary information between 1992 and 2000 as part of the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition. Results: Using Spearman's correlation coefficients, the correlations between mean regional 24HDR fruit and vegetable variables and corresponding mean plasma carotenoid levels were generally higher than the correlations using FQ means. The highest correlation was between the 24HDR citrus fruit variable and beta-cryptoxanthin (r = 0.90). For 24HDR, total fruits and vegetables were highly correlated with lutein, zeaxanthin, and beta-cryptoxanthin (r = 0.83-0.87), while vegetables were more closely related with lutein (r = 0.69) and zeaxanthin (r = 0.68), and fruits correlated with zeaxanthin (r = 0.87) and beta-cryptoxanthin (r = 0.84). Root vegetables (r = 0.81) and total carrots (r = 0.71) were well correlated with alpha-carotene. In the multivariate models adjusting for age, body mass index, and season, and using observations of means stratified by sex and region, the association was generally higher for 24HDR compared to FQ. Conclusion: Mean regional intakes of fruits and vegetables in several European countries were closely correlated with corresponding mean plasma levels of individual carotenoids. Fruits and vegetables measured by 24HDR were generally better able to predict plasma carotenoids at the ecological level.
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- Al-Delaimy, WK, et al.
(author)
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Plasma carotenoids as biomarkers of intake of fruits and vegetables: individual-level correlations in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC)
- 2005
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In: European Journal of Clinical Nutrition. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1476-5640 .- 0954-3007. ; 59:12, s. 1387-1396
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Objective: The aim in this study was to assess the association between individual plasma carotenoid levels (alpha-carotene, beta-carotene, lycopene, beta-cryptoxanthin, lutein, zeaxanthin) and fruit and vegetable intakes recorded by a calibrated food questionnaire (FQ) and 24- h dietary recall records (24HDR) in nine different European countries with diverse populations and widely varying intakes of plant foods. Design: A stratified random subsample of 3089 men and women from nine countries participating in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC), who had provided blood samples and dietary and other lifestyle information between 1992 and 2000, were included. Results: beta-Cryptoxanthin was most strongly correlated with total fruits (FQ r = 0.52, 24HDR r = 0.39), lycopene with tomato and tomato products (FQ r = 0.38, 24HDR r = 0.25), and alpha-carotene with intake of root vegetables (r = 0.39) and of total carrots (r = 0.38) for FQ only. Based on diet measured by FQ and adjusting for possible confounding by body mass index (BMI), age, gender, smoking status, alcohol intake, and energy intake, the strongest predictors of individual plasma carotenoid levels were fruits (R-partial(2) = 17.2%) for beta-cryptoxanthin, total carrots (R-partial(2) = 13.4%) and root vegetables (R-partial(2) = 13.3%) for alpha-carotene, and tomato products (R-partial(2) = 13.8%) for lycopene. For 24HDR, the highest R-partial(2) was for fruits in relation to beta-cryptoxanthin (7.9%). Conclusions: Intakes of specific fruits and vegetables as measured by food questionnaires are good predictors of certain individual plasma carotenoid levels in our multicentre European study. At individual subject levels, FQ measurements of fruits, root vegetables and carrots, and tomato products are, respectively, good predictors of beta-cryptoxanthin, alpha-carotene, and lycopene in plasma.
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- Al-Delaimy, WK, et al.
(author)
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Plasma levels of six carotenoids in nine European countries: report from the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC)
- 2004
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In: Public Health Nutrition. - 1475-2727 .- 1368-9800. ; 7:6, s. 713-722
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Background: In addition to their possible direct biological effects, plasma carotenoids can be used as biochemical markers of fruit and vegetable consumption for identifying diet-disease associations in epidemiological studies. Few studies have compared levels of these carotenoids between countries in Europe. Objective: Our aim was to assess the variability of plasma carotenoid levels within the cohort of the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC). Methods: Plasma levels of six carotenoids-alpha-carotene, beta-carotene, beta-cryptoxanthin, lycopene, lutein and zeaxanthin-were measured cross-sectionally in 3043 study subjects from 16 regions in nine European countries. We investigated the relative influence of gender, season, age, body mass index (BMI), alcohol intake and smoking status on plasma levels of the carotenoids. Results: Mean plasma level of the sum of the six carotenoids varied twofold between regions (1.35 mumol l(-1) for men in Malmo, Sweden vs. 2.79 mumol l(-1) for men in Ragusa/Naples, Italy; 1.61 mumol l(-1) for women in The Netherlands vs. 3.52 mumol l(-1) in Ragusa/Naples, Italy). Mean levels of individual carotenoids varied up to fourfold (alpha-carotene: 0.06 mumol l(-1) for men in Murcia, Spain vs. 0.25 mumol l(-1) for vegetarian men living in the UK). In multivariate regression analyses, region was the most important predictor of total plasma carotenoid level (partial R-2=27.3%), followed by BMI (partial R-2=5.2%), gender (partial R-2=2.7%) and smoking status (partial R-2=2.8%). Females had higher total carotenoid levels than males across Europe. Conclusions: Plasma levels of carotenoids vary substantially between 16 different regions in Italy, Greece, Spain, France, Germany, the UK, Sweden, Denmark and The Netherlands. Compared with region of residence, the other demographic and lifestyle factors and laboratory measurements have limited predictive value for plasma carotenoid levels in Europe.
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- Bingham, SA, et al.
(author)
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Dietary fibre in food and protection against colorectal cancer in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC): an observational study
- 2003
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In: The Lancet. - 1474-547X. ; 361:9368, s. 1496-1501
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Background Dietary fibre is thought to protect against colorectal cancer but this view has been challenged by recent prospective and intervention studies that showed no protective effect. Methods We prospectively examined the association between dietary fibre intake and incidence of colorectal cancer in 519 978 individuals aged 25-70 years taking part in the EPIC study, recruited from ten European countries. Participants completed a dietary questionnaire in 1992-98 and were followed up for cancer incidence. Relative risk estimates were obtained from fibre intake, categorised by sex-specific, cohort-wide quintiles, and from linear models relating the hazard ratio to fibre intake expressed as a continuous variable. Findings Follow-up consisted of 1939 011 person-years, and data for 1065 reported cases of colorectal cancer were included in the analysis. Dietary fibre in foods was inversely related to incidence of large bowel cancer (adjusted relative risk 0.75 [95% CI 0.59-0.95] for the highest versus lowest quintile of intake), the protective effect being greatest for the left side of the colon, and least for the rectum. After calibration with more detailed dietary data, the adjusted relative risk for the highest versus lowest quintile of fibre from food intake was 0.58 (0.41-0.85). No food source of fibre was significantly more protective than others, and non-food supplement sources of fibre were not investigated. Interpretation In populations with low average intake of dietary fibre, an approximate doubling of total fibre intake from foods could reduce the risk of colorectal cancer by 40%.
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