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Frequency of consumption of selected indicator foods and serum cholesterol

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Abstract

The relationship between frequency of consumption of eleven indicator foods (milk, meat, liver, carrots, green vegetables, fruit, eggs, ham, fish, cheese and alcohol) and serum cholesterol was investigated in the comparison group of a case-control study of acute myocardial infarction conducted in Italy. Data were collected on 792 subjects from various Italian regions, admitted to hospital for acute conditions unrelated to any known or potential risk factor for myocardial infarction or to long-term modifications in diet. No statistically or epidemio-logically meaningful relationship emerged between serum cholesterol level and frequency of consumption of any of these foods. Cholesterol levels rose according to increasing consumption tertiles for most of the indicator foods considered. Higher values for the higher tertile of consumption were observed for meat, ham and eggs, but also for fruit, carrots and green vegetables. However, correlation coefficients between frequency of consumption of various food items and serum cholesterol level were uniformly low for all food items considered, ranging between −0.09 (for milk) and 0.19 (for ham). Although a more comprehensive diet history may lead to different indications, the present data are not suggestive of any major influence of long-term frequency of consumption of a few selected indicator foods on serum cholesterol levels.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Istituto di Ricerche Farmacologiche ‘Mario Negri’, Via Eritrea 62, I-20157, Milano, Italy

    Barbara D'Avanzo, Eva Negri, Alessandro Nobili & Carlo La Vecchia

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

    Carlo La Vecchia

Authors
  1. Barbara D'Avanzo
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  2. Eva Negri
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  3. Alessandro Nobili
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  4. Carlo La Vecchia
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Additional information

GISSI-EFRIM (Gruppo Italiano per lo Studio della Sopravvivenza nell'Infarto — Epidemiologia dei Fattori di Rischio dell'Infarto Miocardico).

Scientific Advisory Board: G.A. Feruglio, M.G. Franzosi, C. La Vecchia, A.P. Maggioni, A. Maseri, G. Tognoni.

Participating Clinical Centers: Alba (S. Boscarino); Asti (M. Alciati); Avellino (G. Amoroso); Bari ‘Di Venere’ (N. D'Amato); Barletta (M.A. Messina); Belluno (A. Darold, A. De Biasi); Biella (A. Pagliarini); Bolzano (C. Romeo); Bozzolo (E. Franzi); Brindisi (C. Andriulo); Broni (B. Albonico); Cagliari (M. Sias); Casale Monferrato (M. Pezzana); Casarano (S. Ciricugno); Caserta (R. Di Sarno); Castel San Giovanni (D. Bozzarelli); Castellammare di Stabia (R. Longobardi); Cento (L. Orselli); Chiari (C. Gentilini); Colleferro (E. Venturini); Copertino (A. Calcagnile); Crotone (R. Lumare); Desio (G. Iacuitti); Fidenza (S. Callegari); Foligno (A. Mattioli); Gallarate (G. Filippini); Genova ‘Galliera’ (G. Scarsi); Grosseto (A. Cresti); Guastalla (V. Manicardi); Legnago (P. Todesco); Leno (A. Lanzini); Lodi (C. Pezzi); Lugo (T. Tognoli, M. Gobbi); Magenta (G. Ventura, R. Turato); Mantova (A. Izzo, G.P. Guerra); Matera (A. Rizzi); Menaggio (S. Silvani); Messina ‘Policlinico’ (G. Di Tano); Mestre (G. Gasparini); Milano ‘Niguarda’ II° divisione (C. Corsini); Milano ‘Policlinico’ (M. Marconi); Mirano (A. Zanocco); Monza (F. Achilli); Napoli ‘Cardarelli ’' (F. Piantadosi, R. Giuliano, G. Sepe, S. Pezzella); Novi Ligure (L. Fasciolo); Nuoro (G. Tupponi); Palermo ‘Cervello’ (A. Ledda); Palermo ‘Benfratelli’ (R.G. La Malfa); Palermo ‘Villa Sofia’ (A. Pizzuto); Perugia (S. Brando); Pescia (L. Iacopetti); Piombino (S. Bechi); Pisa (U. Conti); Pistoia (F. Fantoni); Putignano (A. Marco); Riccione (F. Brighi, A. Benati); Rieti (S. Orazi); Rimini (F. Bologna, D. Santoro); Roma ‘Nuova ITOR’ (M. Rocchi); Roma ‘S. Pietro’ (P. Giuliani); Roma ‘Policlinico’ (P. De Paolis); Saluzzo (P. Allemanno, S. Reinaud); San Donà di Piave (P. Delia Valentina); Sassuolo (G. Fontana, P. Orlandi); Savigliano (V. Cravero); Savona (A. Gandolfo); Sciacca (C. Catalano); Sondrio (M. Marieni); Termoli (M. Esposito); Torino ‘Maria Vittoria’ (L. Faccio, L. Mussano); Trapani (G.B. Biondo); Treviso (F. Perissinotto); Udine (C. Fresco); Vasto (E. Bottari); Voghera (G. Ferrari).

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D'Avanzo, B., Negri, E., Nobili, A. et al. Frequency of consumption of selected indicator foods and serum cholesterol. Eur J Epidemiol 11, 269–274 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01719430

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01719430

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