Dietary intake of total polyphenols and the risk of all-cause and specific-cause mortality in Japanese adults: the Takayama study

Chie Taguchi,Michiyo Yamakawa,Keiko Wada,Kazuo Kondo,Yoshimi Kishimoto,Chisato Nagata,Yoichi Fukushima

doi:10.1007/s00394-019-02136-9

Chie Taguchi, Michiyo Yamakawa + Show 5 more

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https://doi.org/10.1007/s00394-019-02136-9

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Abstract

PurposeSeveral epidemiological studies have demonstrated the health benefits of polyphenols, but the associations between polyphenol intake and mortality including total and major causes of death remain unclear. We investigated the associations between subjects’ total polyphenol intake and their mortality from all causes, cardiovascular disease (CVD), cancer, and other causes of death in a population-based cohort study in Japan.MethodsA total of 29,079 residents of Takayama City, Japan were analyzed. Their dietary intake was assessed using a validated semi-quantitative food-frequency questionnaire (FFQ) in 1992. Mortality was ascertained over the subsequent 16 years. The dietary polyphenol intake was calculated by matching the subjects’ food consumption data with our original polyphenol content database.ResultsA total of 5339 deaths occurred during the follow-up. After multivariable adjustment, the highest quartile of total polyphenol intake compared with the lowest quartile was significantly associated with a lower risk of all-cause mortality (HR: 0.93, 95% CI: 0.82–0.99, p trend = 0.003). The subjects in the highest quartile showed significantly lower CVD mortality compared to those in the lowest quartile, and among the types of CVD mortality, a strong inverse association was observed for stroke mortality. Inverse associations were also observed for mortality from other causes, specifically digestive disease. The total polyphenol intake was not significantly associated with the risk of cancer mortality.ConclusionsThe results of this prospective study indicate that dietary total polyphenol intake in Japanese is inversely associated with all-cause mortality and mortality from cardiovascular and digestive diseases.

Highlights

Polyphenols are the largest group of phytochemicals, and they are present in most foods and beverages of plant origin
Several studies have estimated dietary intake of total polyphenol and suggested that polyphenol consumption contributes to a reduction in the risks of chronic diseases such as cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) [7, 8] and some cancers [9], in addition to all-cause mortality [10, 11]
After stratification by the type of CVD, the highest quartile of total polyphenol intake, compared with the lowest quartiles, was significantly associated with a decreased risk of mortality from total stroke (HR 0.69, 95% confidence interval (95% CI): 0.51–0.94, p trend = 0.02), but not associated with the risk of ischemic heart disease (IHD)

Summary

Introduction

Polyphenols are the largest group of phytochemicals, and they are present in most foods and beverages of plant origin. University Graduate School of Medicine, Gifu, Japan regulations of glucose and lipid metabolism and vascular function, are thought to contribute to human health [1, 2]. The very first reports of possible associations between polyphenol consumption and subsequent disease risk involved the Zutphen Elderly Study [3, 4] and the Seven Countries Study [5] in the 1990s. Those studies included a limited number of polyphenols in the dietary assessment, reflecting the lack of extensive polyphenol content data at the time.

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