Antioxidants present in fruits and vegetables may protect the lung from oxidative damage and prevent COPD.
To determine the association between fruit and vegetable consumption and risk of COPD by smoking status in men.
The population-based prospective Cohort of Swedish Men included 44 335 men, aged 45-79 years, with no history of COPD at baseline. Fruit and vegetable consumption was assessed with a self-administered questionnaire.
During a mean follow-up of 13.2 years, 1918 incident cases of COPD were ascertained. A strong inverse association between total fruit and vegetable consumption and COPD was observed in smokers but not in never-smokers (p-interaction=0.02). The age-standardised incidence rate per 100 000 person-years in the lowest quintile (