A new analysis of data from the Western Australian-based Raine Study suggests that two humble vegetable groups — legumes and cruciferous vegetables — may play an outsize role in protecting young adults from early cardiometabolic risk, though the benefits appear to diverge sharply between men and women.
McNamara et al. suggest higher intakes of legumes and cruciferous vegetables are associated with lower odds of cardiometabolic risk in young adults, with significant sex differences. Image credit: Silvia Rita
Evidence suggests not all vegetables are the same for cardiometabolic health.
Intake of specific vegetable groups exhibit significantly stronger associations with improved cardiometabolic health outcomes in adult populations.
Few studies have investigated these relationships in young adults.
“What you eat now matters – and choosing to eat these veggies every day could make a real difference on how long — and how well — you live your life,” said Dr. Lauren Blekkenhorst, a researcher at Edith Cowan University.
In their study, Dr. Blekkenhorst and colleagues analyzed data from 638 participants in the long-running Raine Study, an Australian cohort tracked since before birth.
At age 22, participants completed detailed dietary questionnaires and underwent clinical testing for blood pressure, waist circumference, cholesterol, triglycerides and blood sugar — markers used to flag risk for metabolic syndrome, a cluster of conditions that raises the odds of heart disease and diabetes later in life.
About one in five participants fell into a high-risk category, having two or more of these red-flag markers.
“These risk factors are appearing earlier than most people would expect,” said Dr. Therese O’Sullivan, also from Edith Cowan University.
When the researchers broke down vegetable intake by type — allium, cruciferous, green leafy, legumes and yellow-orange-red — distinct patterns emerged by sex.
Men classified as low-risk ate notably more legumes, such as peas, beans and lentils, than their high-risk counterparts.
After adjusting for income, education, smoking, alcohol use and other dietary factors, men who ate roughly one additional 75-gram serving of legumes per day had about 72% lower odds of being in the high-risk group.
Among women, cruciferous vegetables — including broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage and brussels sprouts — showed the strongest association.
Women with lower cardiometabolic risk consumed more of these vegetables, and each additional daily serving was linked to roughly an 85% reduction in the odds of high risk after adjustment.
Women in the low-risk group also ate more green leafy vegetables, though that relationship did not hold up once other factors were accounted for.
“It’s not just about piling on greens,” said Dr. Neal McNamara, also from Edith Cowan University.
“We saw very clear sex-based differences. Beans for blokes and broccoli for women stood out as the real winners.”
“Our findings suggest that men and women may process some nutrients and plant compounds from vegetables differently,” Dr. O’Sullivan added.
“For example, natural compounds found in legumes may affect testosterone more strongly, while compounds found in cruciferous vegetables may have a greater effect on female hormones like estrogen and progesterone.”
The findings will appear in the August 2026 issue of the journal Nutrition, Metabolism and Cardiovascular Diseases.
_____
Neal McNamara et al. 2026. Higher legume and cruciferous vegetable intakes are associated with lower cardiometabolic risk in young adults: a cross-sectional study. Nutrition, Metabolism and Cardiovascular Diseases 36 (8): 104709; doi: 10.1016/j.numecd.2026.104709
