LAUSR

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.