We studied the relationship between nutrient intakes and adenocarcinoma of the esophagus and distal stomach among 124 esophageal adenocarcinoma cases, 124 distal stomach cancer cases, and 449 controls in a population-based case-control study in eastern Nebraska. The residual method was used to adjust nutrient intake quartiles or tertiles for energy intake. We observed significant inverse associations with risk of esophageal adenocarcinoma for dietary intakes of total vitamin A [highest vs. lowest quartile, multivariate odds ratio (OR) = 0.5, P for trend = 0.05], beta-cryptoxanthin (OR = 0.5, P = 0.05), riboflavin (OR = 0.5, P = 0.01), folate (OR = 0.5, P = 0.03), zinc (OR = 0.5, P = 0.05), dietary fiber (OR = 0.5, P = 0.05), protein (OR = 0.5, P = 0.02), and carbohydrate (OR = 0.4, P = 0.02). For distal stomach cancer, only vitamin C (OR = 0.6, P = 0.04), dietary fiber (OR = 0.4, P = 0.007), and carbohydrate (OR = 0.4, P = 0.004) were inversely associated with risk. Our analyses showed significant interaction between dietary fat intake, but not intakes of other nutrients, and respondent type for both cancer sites. Subgroup analyses among self-respondents revealed positive associations between saturated fat intake and risk of esophageal adenocarcinoma (OR = 1.0, 4.1, and 4.6 for intake tertiles, P for trend = 0.02) and risk of distal stomach cancer (OR = 1.0, 1.2, and 3.6, P = 0.03). However, no such associations were found among proxy respondents. Our data suggest that greater intake of dietary fiber, certain carotenoids, and vitamins may decrease the risk of esophageal adenocarcinoma, whereas greater intake of saturated fat may increase the risk of esophageal adenocarcinoma and distal stomach cancer.