Food consumption and the incidence of type II diabetes mellitus.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: The consumption of different foods was studied for their ability to predict type II diabetes mellitus. DESIGN: The study design was a cohort study, based on the Finnish Mobile Clinic Health Examination Survey. SETTING: A total of 30 communities from different parts of Finland. SUBJECTS: A total of 4304 men and women, 40-69 y of age and free of diabetes at baseline in 1967-1972 and followed up for incidence of diabetes medication during 23 y (383 incident cases). RESULTS: Higher intakes of green vegetables, fruit and berries, oil and margarine, and poultry were found to predict a reduced risk of type II diabetes. The relative risks of developing type II diabetes between the extreme quartiles of the intakes were 0.69 (95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.50-0.93; P for trend (P) = 0.02) for green vegetables, 0.69 (CI = 0.51-0.92; P = 0.03) for fruit and berries, 0.71 (CI = 0.52-0.98; P = 0.01) for margarine and oil, and 0.71 (CI = 0.54-0.94; P = 0.01) for poultry. CONCLUSION: The results suggest that prevention of type II diabetes might be aided by consumption of certain foods that are rich in nutrients with hypothesized health benefits.