Prospective study of fruits and vegetables and risk of oral premalignant lesions in men.

High dietary ingestion of fruits, particularly vitamin C-containing fruits such as citrus fruits, may help to thwart the development of oral pre-cancerous lesions in men.

​This study assessed the correlation between the consumption of fruits and vegetables and the odds of developing pre-malignant lesions in the mouth in men. Researchers matched dietary patterns with the incidence of oral pre-cancerous lesions among 42,311 US men recruited from the Health Professionals Follow-up Study. 

Researchers observed that the higher the frequency of consumption of fruits, particularly those rich in vitamin C such as citrus fruits, the lower the odds of having pre-cancerous lesions in the mouth. According to this study, a 30—40% decrease in the risk of developing oral pre-malignant lesion was found among subjects who regularly ate generous portions of fruits. This study suggests that men who want to reduce their chances of acquiring pre-cancerous lesions of the mouth should add more fruits to their diets.