DRAFT Australian Dietary Guidelines - Eat For Health

2.2.2.1 Cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes and excess weight
Cardiovascular disease: It is probable that each additional daily serve of vegetables is associated
with a reduced risk of coronary heart disease (Grade B, Section 2.1 in Evidence Report [14]) [145-
150].
It is probable that consumption of vegetables is associated with a reduced risk of stroke (Grade B,
Section 2.4 in Evidence Report [14]) [151, 152]. The protective effect is stronger at higher intakes.
Type 2 diabetes: Recent evidence suggests that consumption of vegetables does not appear to be
directly associated with the risk of type 2 diabetes (Grade C, Section 2.3 in Evidence Report [14])
[153-155]. This supports the inconsistent findings described in other studies for fruit and
vegetables considered together and for fruit alone [154, 155]. However, as there is a strong
relationship between type 2 diabetes and body weight (see Chapter 4), the association between
consumption of vegetables and reduced risk of excessive weight gain (see below) suggests longerterm
studies may be required to further investigate potential effects.
Excess weight: Recent evidence suggests that consuming vegetables is associated with a reduced
risk of weight gain (Grade C, Section 2.2 in Evidence Report [14]) [156-160].
2.2.2.2 Cancer
Oral, nasopharyngeal and oesophageal: Evidence suggests that consuming vegetables is
associated with a reduced risk of oral and nasopharyngeal cancers (Grade C, Section 2.10 in
Evidence Report [14]) [161-165]. This is consistent with the findings described by the WCRF
report [42]. However the evidence also suggests that consumption of preserved vegetables
(salted, dried, fermented or pickled) is associated with increased risk of these cancers (Grade C,
Section 2.10 in Evidence Report [14]) [161-165].
It is unclear from recent studies whether there is an association between total vegetable
consumption and risk of other alimentary cancers, however relationships found previously [36, 37]
still tend to be present when a longer time frame and different types of vegetables are considered
(Section 2 in Evidence Report). Although recent evidence suggests that total consumption of
vegetables is not associated with reduced risk of oesophageal cancer (Grade C, Section 2.9 in
Evidence Report [14]) [166-169], evidence from the WCRF report suggests that consumption of
non-starchy vegetables probably reduces risk of cancer of the oesophagus [42].
Prostate cancer: The evidence suggests that consumption of 1–2 serves of tomatoes a day is
associated with reduced risk of prostate cancer (Grade C, Section 2.13 in Evidence Report [14])
[170, 171]. This is consistent with the probable relationship between intake of lycopene-containing
foods and reduced risk of prostate cancer described by the WCRF report [42].
DRAFT Australian Dietary Guidelines- December 2011 34