Table 4 Daily intake of foods groups considered in the Mediterranean diet score and associated hazard ratios for overall cancer

From: Mediterranean dietary pattern and cancer risk in the EPIC cohort

 

Mean±s.d.

Increment a

HR b (95% CI)

Overall score

4.4±1.7

2

0.96 (0.95–0.98)

Fruits and nuts (g per day)

247.3±197.2

200

0.98 (0.96–0.99)

Vegetables (g per day)

211.2±146.1

145

0.97 (0.95–0.98)

Legumes (g per day)

14.6±23.4

25

1.00 (0.99–1.02)

Cereals (g per day)

219.0±110.8

110

0.97 (0.95–0.98)

Dairy products (g per day)

326.7±235.2

235

1.01 (0.99–1.02)

Fish (g per day)

37.2±35.8

35

1.01 (0.99–1.02)

Meat (g per day)

98.7±6.3

60

1.02 (1.01–1.04)

Monounsaturated lipids (g per day)

30.9±13.8

15

1.01 (0.98–1.04)

Polyunsaturated lipids (g per day)

14.2±6.5

5

0.98 (0.97–1.00)

Saturated lipids (g per day)

31.5±13.0

15

1.01 (0.99–1.04)

Ratio of unsaturated to saturated lipids (g per day)

1.5±0.5

0.5

0.98 (0.96–0.99)

Alcohol c

 Light drinkers

1.9±2.2

 

1.03 (1.00–1.06)

 Moderate drinkers

16.3±10.0

 

1.00

 Heavy drinkers

51.8±25.4

 

1.12 (1.07–1.16)

  1. Abbreviations: CI=confidence interval; HR=hazard ratio.
  2. aThe increment is approximately equal to the standard deviation (except for the Mediterranean diet score).
  3. bStratified by centre and sex, and adjusted for duration of smoking, smoking status, education, height, body mass index, total energy intake, physical activity and, for women, age at menarche, parity, menopausal status, oral contraceptive and hormone therapy use.
  4. cLight drinkers: <10 g of ethanol per day for men and <5 g per day for women; moderate drinkers: 10 to <50 g per day for men and 5 to <25 g per day for women; heavy drinkers: ⩾50 g per day for men and ⩾25 g per day for women. HRs of cancer risk for category of alcohol consumption were calculated using moderate drinkers as the baseline category.
Back to article page