TABLE 3.

Dietary determinants of telomere length (change in z score) in 2284 women from the Nurses’ Health Study¹

	Quintile 1		Quintile 2		Quintile 3		Quintile 4		Quintile 5
	Mean ± SE	P	Mean ± SE	P	Mean ± SE	P	Mean ± SE	P	Mean ± SE	P	P for trend
Energy intake (kcal/d)	0.01 ± 0.07	Ref	−0.01 ± 0.07	0.71	−0.02 ± 0.07	0.59	0.03 ± 0.08	0.88	0.02 ± 0.07	0.93	0.76
Total fatty acids (g/d)	0.10 ± 0.08	Ref	0.05 ± 0.07	0.42	−0.02 ± 0.07	0.07	−0.06 ± 0.07	0.02	−0.01 ± 0.07	0.12	0.05
Total protein (g/d)	−0.03 ± 0.08	Ref	0.01 ± 0.08	0.55	−0.04 ± 0.07	0.94	0.07 ± 0.08	0.15	0.02 ± 0.07	0.49	0.34
Carbohydrate (g/d)	−0.01 ± 0.08	Ref	0.03 ± 0.07	0.56	0.00009 ± 0.07	0.84	0.008 ± 0.08	0.79	0.007 ± 0.09	0.82	0.88
Fiber (g/d)	−0.006 ± 0.07	Ref	−0.10 ± 0.08	0.21	−0.03 ± 0.07	0.68	0.007 ± 0.08	0.87	0.12 ± 0.08	0.11	0.03
Cereal fiber (g/d)	−0.08 ± 0.07	Ref	0.03 ± 0.08	0.11	−0.003 ± 0.07	0.22	−0.02 ± 0.08	0.40	0.11 ± 0.08	0.007	0.03
Whole grains (g/d)	−0.08 ± 0.07	Ref	0.02 ± 0.07	0.19	−0.04 ± 0.07	0.65	0.04 ± 0.08	0.11	0.08 ± 0.08	0.04	0.46
Vitamin E (IU/d)	−0.10 ± 0.08	Ref	−0.02 ± 0.07	0.25	0.05 ± 0.07	0.05	0.06 ± 0.08	0.04	0.03 ± 0.07	0.06	0.49
Saturated fatty acids (g/d)	−0.008 ± 0.09	Ref	−0.04 ± 0.08	0.62	−0.005 ± 0.08	0.98	0.004 ± 0.07	0.89	0.08 ± 0.08	0.38	0.29
Polyunsaturated fatty acids (g/d)	0.15 ± 0.08	Ref	−0.04 ± 0.07	0.02	−0.04 ± 0.07	0.01	0.06 ± 0.08	0.28	−0.11 ± 0.08	0.002	0.02
Monounsaturated fatty acids (g/d)	0.04 ± 0.09	Ref	0.05 ± 0.08	0.88	−0.02 ± 0.07	0.48	−0.02 ± 0.08	0.56	−0.03 ± 0.08	0.49	0.42
trans Fatty acids (g/d)	0.02 ± 0.08	Ref	−0.02 ± 0.07	0.52	−0.01 ± 0.08	0.63	0.02 ± 0.07	0.95	0.03 ± 0.08	0.94	0.70
Linolenic acid (g/d)	−0.03 ± 0.08	Ref	0.07 ± 0.08	0.18	−0.08 ± 0.08	0.51	0.01 ± 0.07	0.60	0.10 ± 0.08	0.1	0.23
Linoleic acid (g/d)	0.19 ± 0.08	Ref	0.02 ± 0.07	0.03	−0.04 ± 0.07	0.007	0.04 ± 0.08	0.09	−0.13 ± 0.08	0.001	0.046
Vitamin D (IU)	−0.03 ± 0.08	Ref	0.03 ± 0.07	0.45	−0.05 ± 0.07	0.74	0.03 ± 0.07	0.40	0.04 ± 0.07	0.38	0.11
Fruit and vegetables (g/d)	0.01 ± 0.07	Ref	0.05 ± 0.07	0.60	−0.02 ± 0.08	0.68	−0.04 ± 0.08	0.54	0.03 ± 0.08	0.83	0.75

¹n = 2284. Multivariable linear regression with adjustment for age, smoking, postmenopausal hormone use, BMI, physical activity, and intakes of polyunsaturated fatty acids, saturated fatty acids, trans fatty acids, monounsaturated fatty acids, energy, cereal fiber, and protein (for carbohydrate analyses, protein was removed from model). Ref, reference.