Association between fruit and vegetable consumption and risk of metabolic syndrome determined using the Korean Genome and Epidemiology Study (KoGES).

PURPOSE: This study examined the association between fruit and vegetable consumption and the risk of metabolic syndrome (MetS) and its components in middle-aged and older adults using data from the Korean Genome and Epidemiology Study. METHODS: A total of 5688 participants aged 40-69 years without MetS at baseline were recruited and followed for 8 years. Fruit and vegetable consumption was assessed using a semi-quantitative food-frequency questionnaire at baseline and after 4 years. A multivariate Cox proportional hazards model was used to examine the risk of incident MetS and its components according to fruit and vegetable consumption. RESULTS: A total of 2067 participants (1020 men and 1047 women) developed MetS during the 8-year follow-up period. Frequent fruit consumers (≥ 4 servings/day) had a lower risk of incident MetS than did rare consumers (< 1 serving/day) in both men and women (hazard ratio (HR) = 0.55, 95% CI 0.44-0.67, p < 0.0001 for men; HR = 0.57, 95% CI 0.47-0.70, p for trend < 0.0001 for women) after adjusting for confounders. Frequent fruit consumption was inversely associated with incidence of abdominal obesity, hypertriglyceridemia, and elevated blood pressure. Frequent vegetable consumption was inversely associated with a risk of hyperglycemia only in men (HR = 0.65, 95% CI 0.44-0.96, p for trend = 0.0275), but no association was observed with risk of incident MetS. CONCLUSIONS: High fruit consumption was associated with a reduced risk of incident MetS and its components, whereas high vegetable consumption was associated with a reduced risk of incident hyperglycemia, but not with MetS in middle-aged and older adults.

Fruit and vegetable consumption and the metabolic syndrome: a systematic review and dose-response meta-analysis.

A systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies were performed to assess the dose-response associations between fruit or vegetable consumption and the chance of the metabolic syndrome (MetS). Studies on the association between fruit or vegetable consumption and the risk of the MetS published from January 1958 to 30 October 2018 were searched using the PubMed, MEDLINE and Embase databases, and the references of relevant articles were reviewed. Random-effects models were used to estimate the summary OR with 95 % CI for the MetS, and dose-response analysis was conducted to quantify the associations. Heterogeneity among studies was evaluated using Q and I2 statistics. A total of nine observational studies (seven cross-sectional studies and two cohort studies) were included in the meta-analysis. In a dose-response analysis of cohort studies and cross-sectional studies, the summary estimate of the MetS for an increase of 100 g/d in fruit consumption (nine studies) was 0·97 (95 % CI 0·95, 0·99; I2 = 26·7 %), whereas an increase of 100 g/d in vegetable consumption (nine studies) was not associated with a reduction in the MetS (OR 0·98; 95 % CI 0·96, 1·01; I2 = 54·6 %). In conclusion, an increased intake of fruit may reduce the risk of the MetS. For future research, prospective studies or randomised clinical trials are needed to identify the effects of fruits and vegetables by variety on the risk of the MetS.