Diet and ischaemic heart disease in the Caerphilly Study

In a South Wales Community Study, 2512 men aged 45-59 years were screened for evidence of ischaemic heart disease. Dietary questionnaires were given to all the men and, in a representative sub-sample of 665 men, 7-day weighed intake records were completed. Nutrient intakes of those who had ECG evidence of ischaemia but no symptoms were compared with those of men who had no evidence of IHD. Differences between the two groups were small. Those who had evidence of ischaemia on ECG tended to have lower intakes of energy, alcohol and most other nutrients. However, most of these differences appeared to be due to the difference in energy intake between the two groups. Allowing for the effect of differences between the groups in the distributions of age and body mass index did not alter the overall conclusions.