Relationship of dietary intake to subsequent coronary heart disease incidence: The Puerto Rico Heart Health Program

Abstract

A study of base-line nutrient intakes of 8218 urban and rural Puerto Rican man aged 45 to 64 years was undertaken in relation to subsequent six year coronary heart disease (CHD) incidence. Urban dietary intakes were significantly higher in total fat and lower in carbohydrate, particularly starch. Average cholesterol intakes were 83 mg/day higher in urban than rural men. Urban serum cholesterol values were significantly higher than rural values. Urban men who developed myocardial infarction or CHD death had significantly lower calorie and carbohydrate intakes i.e., chiefly those derived from rice and legumes. The same association was found in the rural group but failed to reach statistical significance. A very low intake of alcohol was noted in the 73 rural CHD cases. Dietary sucrose intake showed no relationship to CHD incidence. Multivariate analysis, taking relative weight, hematocrit, blood pressure, serum cholesterol, alcohol intake, cigarette smoking, area, and age into account, demonstrated an independent inverse relation of carbohydrate intake from legumes to CHD incidence. The apparent protective effect of complex carbohydrate merits further investigation.

Dietary carbohydrate: relationship to cardiovascular disease and disorders of carbohydrate metabolism

“…Early prospective studies reporting the cardioprotective effect of total carbohydrate intakes and intake of dietary fibre were published in the 1970s and early 1980s (Morris et al, 1977;Garcia-Palmieri et al, 1980;McGee et al, 1984). They were relatively underpowered and confounding of results by a range of factors certainly could not be excluded.…”

Intake of milk fat, reflected in adipose tissue fatty acids and risk of myocardial infarction: a case–control study

“…It has been difficult, however, to demonstrate a clear relationship between intake of saturated fat and risk of cardiovascular disease in large observational studies. A significant positive association was found in two prospective studies (McGee et al, 1984;Kushi et al, 1985), but in others, weak or no association were found (Garcia-Palmieri et al, 1980;Gordon et al, 1981;Shekelle et al, 1981;Kromhout and de Lezenne, 1984;McGee et al, 1984;Kushi et al, 1985;Ascherio et al, 1996;Hu et al, 1997;Pietinen et al, 1997 HDL ratio, serum triglycerides and blood pressure, associated with dairy products (Smedman et al, 1999;Mennen et al, 2000;Pereira et al, 2002), andElwood et al (2004), suggesting that consumption of milk products may be associated with a small reduction in risk of heart disease and stroke.Pentadecanoic acid (15:0) and heptadecanoic acid (17:0) are characteristic for milk fat. They are synthesized by the bacterial flora in the rumen of ruminants (Wu and Palmquist, 1991), and cannot be synthesized in the human body.…”

Research needs and prioritizations for studies linking dietary sugars and potentially related health outcomes

“…Over a third (36%) of these trials were studies with a duration of <1 day. All 11 cohort studies [16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26] were conducted in adults, of which eight were in healthy populations, one in pregnant women, one in diabetics, and one in a study population with mixed health status. The sample sizes of these cohorts were large (mean sample size = 35,738) with a wide range of follow-up time (4 to 48 years).…”

“…None lasted for more than one year. Of the 11 cohort studies [16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26], one study in adults investigated the relationship between simple or added sugars and change in waist circumference after five years [20].…”