BACKGROUND: Lignans are polyphenolic compounds abundant in plant-based foods such as seeds, whole grains, and certain fruits and vegetables and may lead to favorable metabolic health. It remains to be elucidated regarding the role of lignan consumption in the etiology of premature deaths among individuals with diabetes.
OBJECTIVES: To prospectively examine the association between postdiagnosis lignan intake and mortality among individuals with type 2 diabetes (T2D).
METHODS: We analyzed data from 2 prospective United States cohorts, the Nurses' Health Study (1984-2020) and Health Professionals Follow-up Study (1986-2022). Mean daily consumption of total and individual lignans was calculated, and postdiagnosis lignan intakes were cumulatively averaged. Multivariable-adjusted Cox models were used to estimate hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for the associations between lignan intake and mortality.
RESULTS: Among 8465 incident T2D cases contributing 116,026 person-years of follow-up, 4372 deaths were documented, including 1318 from cardiovascular disease (CVD) and 752 from cancer. The pooled multivariable-adjusted HRs (95% CIs) of all-cause mortality comparing the highest compared with the lowest quintiles of postdiagnosis lignan intake were 0.83 (0.74, 0.94) for total lignans, 0.89 (0.80, 0.99) for matairesinol (MAT), 0.78 (0.69, 0.87) for secoisolariciresinol (SECO), 0.91 (0.81, 1.01) for pinoresinol (PINO), and 0.92 (0.82, 1.03) for lariciresinol (LARIC). Higher postdiagnosis SECO intake was also significantly associated with lower CVD and cancer mortality. Changes in lignan intake from pre- to postdiagnosis showed similar favorable associations: 0.83 (0.75, 0.93) for total lignans, 0.86 (0.77, 0.96) for MAT, and 0.81 (0.72, 0.90) for SECO. The associations of lignan intake were significantly stronger among nonwhite individuals.
CONCLUSIONS: Among individuals with T2D, a higher intake of lignans, particularly SECO, was significantly associated with reduced overall CVD and cancer mortality. Minority groups may particularly benefit from lignan intake, although further studies are warranted to substantiate this observation.
