Candy is Dandy, and Not Necessarily Bad for You?

‘All things in moderation’ is a useful guideline, according to a dietary expert writing about a study of candy consumption published in the journal Nutrition Research.  Louisiana researchers examined the possible associations between candy intake and weight, cardiovascular risk factors, and the metabolic syndrome.

The subjects were more than 15,000 adults participating in the 1999-2004 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES).  Dietary recall surveys were used, with candy broken into three categories: total candy, chocolate, and sugar candy. 

A total of 21.8% of the participants were candy consumers (12.9% chocolate, 10.9% sugar candy).  The total daily energy intake was higher in the candy consumers (9,973 vs. 9,027 calories), as was saturated fat and sugar intake.  However, the body mass index (BMI) was lower in the candy consumers than in the non-consumers (27.7 vs. 28.2), as was the waist size (36.3 vs. 38 inches) and the C-reactive protein level (0.40 vs. 0.43 mg/dL).

Further, candy consumers had a 14% decreased risk of raised blood pressure, while those that ate chocolate had a 19% decreased risk of lower high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C, the ‘good’ cholesterol) and a 15% reduction in the risk of developing the metabolic syndrome.  (The metabolic syndrome is a combination of cardiovascular risk factors, such as increased weight (BMI or waist size), blood sugar, blood lipid changes, and raised blood pressure.)

It seems that consumption of candy in this population was not associated with health risks – to the contrary, they candy-eaters came out slight better off, from a health viewpoint, than the non-candy-eaters.  They must have been practicing ‘moderation in all things’ – including eating candy and chocolate.  But there’s another interpretation, of course, as this is merely an association. Maybe the less healthy people in the population ate less candy deliberately, to try to correct for their greater weight and waist size?