A prospective cohort study of starchy and nonstarchy vegetable intake and mortality risk.

Whether starchy and nonstarchy vegetables have distinct impacts on health remains unknown. We prospectively investigated the intake of starchy and nonstarchy vegetables in relation to mortality risk in a nationwide cohort. Diet was assessed using 24-h dietary recalls. Deaths were identified via the record linkage to the National Death Index. Hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated using Cox regression. During a median follow-up of 7.8 years, 4,904 deaths were documented among 40,074 participants aged 18 years or older. Compared to those with no consumption, participants with daily consumption of ≥ 1 serving of nonstarchy vegetables had a lower risk of mortality (HR = 0.76, 95% CI: 0.66-0.88, p trend = 0.001). Dark-green and deep-yellow vegetables (HR = 0.79, 95% CI: 0.63-0.99, p trend = 0.023) and other nonstarchy vegetables (HR = 0.80, 95% CI: 0.70-0.92, p trend = 0.004) showed similar results. Total starchy vegetable intake exhibited a marginally weak inverse association with mortality risk (HR = 0.89, 95% CI: 0.80-1.00, p trend = 0.048), while potatoes showed a null association (HR = 0.93, 95% CI: 0.82-1.06, p trend = 0.186). Restricted cubic spline analysis suggested a linear dose‒response relationship between vegetable intake and death risk, with a plateau at over 300 and 200 grams/day for total and nonstarchy vegetables, respectively. Compared to starchy vegetables, nonstarchy vegetables might be more beneficial to health, although both showed a protective association with mortality risk. The risk reduction in mortality plateaued at approximately 200 grams/day for nonstarchy vegetables and 300 grams/day for total vegetables.