Total and specific dietary polyphenol intakes and 6-year anthropometric changes, cardiovascular and all-causes mortality in the middle-aged general population cohort SU.VI.MAX, France, 1994-2007.

Objectives: We investigated the association of various classes and subclasses of polyphenol intakes with body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), cardiovascular and all-causes mortality in the SU.VI.MAX cohort. Methods: Polyphenol intakes were estimated using the detailed Phenol-Explorer Database and associations with mortality were assessed by multivariate Cox proportional hazard models. Linear mixed effect models allowed the assessment of the longitudinal associations between quartiles of total polyphenol intake, 15 polyphenol subtypes and change in anthropometry over the 6-year follow-up. Models were adjusted for sex, age, socio-economic status, lifestyle, daily dietary intake and health status. Results: Participants in the highest quartile of intake of flavones (P=0.013), lignans (P=0.020), total polyphenols (P=0.050) experienced a less notable increase in BMI and participants in the highest quartile of intake of proanthocyanidins (P=0.04), flavanones (P=0.002), flavones (P=0.001), hydroxycinnamic acids (P=0.027) and lignans (P=0.009) experienced a less notable increase in WC over time compared to their counterparts in the bottom quartile of intake of the respective polyphenols. High intakes of flavones were associated with a reduction of the all-causes mortality (HR, 0.46 (95%CI, 0.26-0.80)) as compared with low intakes. Among subclass of flavones, apigenin arabinoside-glucoside and apigenin galactoside-arabinoside, two individual flavones, reduced total mortality (ptrend=0.02 and 0.02 respectively). Cardiovascular mortality was affected only with intakes of apigenin arabinoside-glucoside (ptrend=0.05). Conclusion: Dietary polyphenol intakes may help in reducing weight gain over time in the general population while moderate increases in BMI and WC over time have been shown to increase disease risk and high intakes of flavone may reduce all-causes mortality.