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Response to Chocolate, well-being and health among elderly men: chocolate and acute myocardial infarction in a case–control study from Italy

European Journal of Clinical Nutrition volume 63, pages 588–589 (2009)Cite this article

In their study among elderly men from Finland, Strandberg et al. (2007) found that chocolate preference, compared with preference for other candies, was associated with lower body mass index and waist circumference, with higher physical activity, and with better subjective health and psychological well-being. This may be reflected in a more favourable cardiovascular risk profile. A recent meta-analysis (Taubert et al., 2007) found that consumption of diet rich in cocoa, but not tea drinking, reduced blood pressure, confirming the potential favourable effect of polyphenols and other food components derived from cocoa and cocoa extracts on risk of cardiovascular diseases. However, the possible association between consumption of chocolate and risk of cardiovascular disease has not been adequately studied. To our knowledge, only a cohort study based on 470 men and 314 deaths, including 152 deaths for cardiovascular disease, analysed the issue (Buijsse et al., 2006). That study showed an inverse association between cocoa intake and blood pressure, cardiovascular and all cause mortality (Buijsse et al., 2006). We investigated the issue considering data from a case–control study on acute myocardial infarction (AMI), including a specific question on consumption of chocolates and bars of chocolate (Tavani et al., 2006).

Between 1995 and 2003, we conducted a case–control study on AMI in greater Milan, Italy (Tavani et al., 2006). Cases were 760 patients (580 men and 180 women) in hospital with a first episode of non-fatal AMI, and controls were 682 patients (439 men and 243 women), admitted to the same hospitals for acute conditions unrelated to AMI risk factors (30% traumas, 25% non-traumatic orthopaedic disorders, 18% surgical conditions, 18% eye, nose, throat or teeth disorders and 9% miscellaneous other illnesses unrelated to diet). Information on diet was based on a reproducible and validated food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) (Tavani et al., 2006). The odds ratios (OR) and corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CI) were derived by unconditional multiple logistic regression models after allowance for age, sex, education, diabetes, obesity, hypertension, hyperlipidaemia, cholesterol level, body mass index, cigarette smoking, alcohol and coffee drinking, and family history of AMI in first-degree relatives.

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References

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Istituto di Ricerche Farmacologiche ‘Mario Negri’, Via La Masa 19, Milan, Italy

    S Gallus, A Tavani & C La Vecchia

  2. Istituto di Statistica Medica e Biometria, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milan, Italy

    C La Vecchia

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  1. S Gallus
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  2. A Tavani
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  3. C La Vecchia
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Correspondence to S Gallus.

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Gallus, S., Tavani, A. & La Vecchia, C. Response to Chocolate, well-being and health among elderly men: chocolate and acute myocardial infarction in a case–control study from Italy. Eur J Clin Nutr 63, 588–589 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ejcn.1602945

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