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Fruit and vegetable intake and pre-diabetes: a case–control study

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Abstract

Purpose

Few studies have evaluated the association of fruit and vegetable (FV) intake and pre-diabetes. However, these studies are very limited and incomplete. Therefore, the aim of our study was to compare FV consumption and their subgroups between pre-diabetic and control subjects.

Methods

This case–control study included 300 individuals, 150 subjects with normal fasting blood glucose (FBG), and 150 pre-diabetic subjects who were matched for sex and age. We collected the participants’ anthropometric and physical activity data and measured their blood glucose level. A 168 items semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) was used for estimating the FV intake.

Results

After adjustment for confounding variables, participants in the lower quartiles of FV and total fruit intake were more likely to experience pre-diabetes compared with those in the higher quartiles (p trend < 0.007). In addition, cruciferous vegetables, other vegetables, and berries were inversely associated with pre-diabetes (p < 0.05), although a distinct dose–response relationship was not found. Unexpectedly, higher intake of dark yellow vegetables was significantly associated with a higher chance of pre-diabetes (p trend = 0.006). Other vegetable and fruit subgroups did not show any significant relationship with this disorder.

Conclusion

Our findings suggest that higher intake of total FV and total fruits might be associated with lower odds ratio of pre-diabetes.

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Abbreviations

FV:

Fruits and vegetables

FBG:

Fasting blood glucose

BMI:

Body mass index

USDA:

United States Department of Agriculture

IFG:

Impaired fasting glucose

IGT:

Impaired glucose tolerance

ADA:

American diabetes association

FFQ:

Food frequency questionnaire

OGTT:

Oral glucose tolerance test

T2DM:

Type 2 diabetes mellitus

WHO:

World Health Organization

WC:

Waist circumference

IPAQ:

International physical activity questionnaire

MET:

Metabolic equivalent task

HEI:

Healthy eating index

OR:

Odds ratio

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Acknowledgements

This research project was supported by Tehran University of Medical Sciences (TUMS) (Grant No. 93-454-76).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Community Nutrition, School of Nutritional Sciences and Dietetics, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Hojatdost Street, Naderi Street, Keshavarz Blv., Tehran, Iran

    Maryam Safabakhsh, Fariba Bagheri, Fereydoun Siassi & Gity Sotoudeh

  2. Department of Cellular, Molecular Nutrition, School of Nutritional Sciences and Dietetics, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

    Fariba Koohdani

  3. Department of Social Medicine, School of Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

    Farahnaz Khajehnasiri

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  1. Maryam Safabakhsh
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  2. Fariba Koohdani
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Correspondence to Fereydoun Siassi or Gity Sotoudeh.

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Safabakhsh, M., Koohdani, F., Bagheri, F. et al. Fruit and vegetable intake and pre-diabetes: a case–control study. Eur J Nutr 57, 2953–2962 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00394-017-1569-x

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