High diversity of dietary flavonoid intake is associated with a lower risk of all-cause mortality and major chronic diseases
Benjamin H. Parmenter, Alysha S. Thompson, Nicola P. Bondonno, Amy Jennings, Kevin Murray, Aurora Perez‐Cornago, Jonathan M. Hodgson, Anna Tresserra‐Rimbau, Tilman Kühn, Aedín Cassidy
Abstract
Higher habitual intakes of dietary flavonoids have been linked with a lower risk of all-cause mortality and major chronic disease. Yet, the contribution of diversity of flavonoid intake to health outcomes remains to be investigated. Here, using a cohort of 124,805 UK Biobank participants, we show that participants who consumed the widest diversity of dietary flavonoids, flavonoid-rich foods and/or specific flavonoid subclasses had a 6-20% significantly lower risk of all-cause mortality and incidence of cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, cancer, respiratory disease and neurodegenerative disease. Furthermore, we report that both quantity and diversity of flavonoids are independent predictors of mortality and several chronic diseases, suggesting that consuming a higher quantity and wider diversity is better for longer-term health than either component alone. These findings suggest that consuming several different daily servings of flavonoid-rich foods or beverages, such as tea, berries, apples, oranges or grapes, may lower risk of all-cause mortality and chronic disease.