DRAFT Australian Dietary Guidelines - Eat For Health

vegetable intake and cancer has focused more on investigating the health effects of consuming
different subgroups of vegetables on site-specific cancers than the effect of total vegetable intake.
There is strengthened evidence of the beneficial effects of intake of various non-starchy vegetables
in reducing risk of some site-specific cancers. High dietary intakes of starchy vegetables may help
explain the weaker association between total vegetable intake and many site-specific cancers.
There is also greater clarity on the quantity of vegetables to produce beneficial health effects, plus
increasing evidence of a protective effect against a number of chronic diseases for consumption of
vegetables and fruit when considered together (see Appendix 5).
The evidence statements and gradings (A- convincing association, B- probable association, C-
suggestive association) from the Evidence Report (literature from years 2002 – 2009) are
presented in the table below. This does not include evidence from other sources, such as the 2003
Dietary Guidelines (where evidence was classified as level I, II or III in which individual studies
were classified according to their design but overall grades for relationships were not derived),
although these sources have been used to inform the Guidelines.
Evidence Statement Grade
Consumption of each additional daily serve of vegetables is associated with a reduced
risk of coronary heart disease.
Consumption of vegetables is associated with reduced risk of stroke.
Consumption of vegetables is associated with reduced risk of weight gain
Consumption of vegetables is associated with a reduced risk of oral and nasopharyngeal
cancers.
Consumption of preserved vegetables is associated with increased risk of oral and
nasopharyngeal cancer.
Consumption of 1-2 serves per day of tomato is associated with a reduced risk of
prostate cancer.
Consumption of more than 1 serving per week of spinach is associated with reduced
risk of colorectal cancer.
Consumption of cruciferous vegetables is associated with reduced risk of lung cancer.
Although serving sizes of vegetables differed between studies considered in the Evidence Report
[14], Evidence Statements presented below are based on the Australian standard serve size of 75g.
DRAFT Australian Dietary Guidelines- December 2011 33
B
B
C
C
C
C
C
C