Table 1 Baseline characteristics of study population according to sulfur microbial diet score*

Number of participants

101,752

30,685

25,085

23,103

22,879

sulfur microbial diet score

20.14 ± 3.09

16.56 ± 1.49

19.51 ± 0.50

21.47 ± 0.50

24.31 ± 1.44

Age

65.53 ± 5.73

65.92 ± 5.80

65.63 ± 5.74

65.44 ± 5.69

64.99 ± 5.63

Sex

 Male

49,494 (48.64%)

13,081 (42.63%)

12,069 (48.11%)

11,867 (51.37%)

12,477 (54.53%)

 Female

52,258 (51.36%)

17,604 (57.37%)

13,016 (51.89%)

11,236 (48.63%)

10,402 (45.47%)

Race

 White

94,063 (92.44%)

27,887 (90.88%)

23,133 (92.22%)

21,501 (93.07%)

21,542 (94.16%)

 Non-white

7689 (7.56%)

2798 (9.12%)

1952 (7.78%)

1602 (6.93%)

1337 (5.84%)

Education level

 College below

64,953 (63.83%)

19,144 (62.39%)

16,015 (63.84%)

14,930 (64.62%)

14,864 (64.97%)

 College graduate

17,847 (17.54%)

5307 (17.30%)

4415 (17.60%)

4062 (17.58%)

4063 (17.76%)

 Postgraduate

18,952 (18.63%)

6234 (20.32%)

4655 (18.56%)

4111 (17.79%)

3952 (17.27%)

Marital status

 Married or living as married

79,823 (78.45%)

23,928 (77.98%)

19,882 (79.26%)

18,205 (78.80%)

17,808 (77.84%)

 Other

21,929 (21.55%)

6757 (22.02%)

5203 (20.74%)

4898 (21.20%)

5071 (22.16%)

 Body mass index (kg/m²)

27.22 ± 4.79

26.64 ± 4.65

27.26 ± 4.80

27.45 ± 4.79

27.74 ± 4.88

Smoking status

 Never

48,579 (47.74%)

16,472 (53.68%)

12,372 (49.32%)

10,657 (46.13%)

9078 (39.68%)

 Current

9401 (9.24%)

2185 (7.12%)

2069 (8.25%)

2257 (9.77%)

2890 (12.63%)

 Former

43,772 (43.02%)

12,028 (39.20%)

10,644 (42.43%)

10,189 (44.10%)

10,911 (47.69%)

 Smoking pack-years

17.65 ± 26.59

14.22 ± 24.04

16.53 ± 25.82

18.76 ± 27.36

22.37 ± 29.02

Regular consumption of aspirin

 No

53,953 (53.02%)

16,635 (54.21%)

13,299 (53.02%)

12,141 (52.55%)

11,878 (51.92%)

 Yes

47,799 (46.98%)

14,050 (45.79%)

11,786 (46.98%)

10,962 (47.45%)

11,001 (48.08%)

Arm

 Intervention

51,816 (50.92%)

15,561 (50.71%)

12,866 (51.29%)

11,889 (51.46%)

11,500 (50.26%)

 Control

49,936 (49.08%)

15,124 (49.29%)

12,219 (48.71%)

11,214 (48.54%)

11,379 (49.74%)

History of diabetes

 No

94,947 (93.31%)

29,355 (95.67%)

23,496 (93.67%)

21,419 (92.71%)

20,677 (90.38%)

 Yes

6805 (6.69%)

1330 (4.33%)

1589 (6.33%)

1684 (7.29%)

2202 (9.62%)

History of hypertension

 No

68,707 (67.52%)

21,395 (69.72%)

16,905 (67.39%)

15,439 (66.83%)

14,968 (65.42%)

 Yes

33,045 (32.48%)

9290 (30.28%)

8180 (32.61%)

7664 (33.17%)

7911 (34.58%)

Family history of esophageal cancer

 No

98,281 (96.59%)

29,640 (96.59%)

24,264 (96.73%)

22,292 (96.49%)

22,085 (96.53%)

 Yes

813 (0.80%)

264 (0.86%)

184 (0.73%)

177 (0.77%)

188 (0.82%)

 Possible

2658 (2.61%)

781 (2.55%)

637 (2.54%)

634 (2.74%)

606 (2.65%)

Physical activity level (min/week)

122.75 ± 108.73

134.60 ± 111.96

124.37 ± 108.43

117.52 ± 107.21

110.38 ± 104.39

Energy intake from diet (kcal/day)

1738.64 ± 736.43

1884.10 ± 751.86

1754.13 ± 742.20

1664.84 ± 719.77

1601.07 ± 688.22

Pickled Vegetables/Fruit intake (g/day)

2.10 ± 2.43

2.19 ± 2.43

2.18 ± 2.45

2.07 ± 2.44

1.93 ± 2.41

Components of sulfur microbial diet intake

 Processed meat (g/day)

17.02 ± 18.84

13.13 ± 16.39

16.51 ± 18.32

18.22 ± 19.25

21.60 ± 20.83

 Liquor (g/day)

10.68 ± 46.12

4.27 ± 24.24

8.26 ± 36.56

12.14 ± 45.67

20.48 ± 70.30

 Low-calorie drinks (g/day)

218.58 ± 393.85

107.95 ± 245.79

182.88 ± 333.89

245.94 ± 405.08

378.46 ± 526.13

 Beer (g/day)

99.19 ± 485.05

100.69 ± 450.04

98.16 ± 468.04

102.79 ± 521.02

94.65 ± 510.30

 Fruit juice (g/day)

45.90 ± 157.27

71.64 ± 188.44

49.22 ± 163.67

34.48 ± 132.09

19.26 ± 116.81

 Legumes (g/day)

35.38 ± 43.76

53.63 ± 57.48

36.34 ± 40.65

26.62 ± 29.75

18.69 ± 23.98

 Other Vegetables (g/day)

20.79 ± 44.67

37.86 ± 58.01

20.96 ± 44.00

12.31 ± 32.28

6.28 ± 22.59

 Sweets & desserts (g/day)

39.62 ± 42.66

47.58 ± 43.66

41.99 ± 44.23

37.07 ± 42.50

28.93 ± 36.86