The effect of flaxseed supplementation in processed foods on serum fatty acids and enterolactone.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose was to study the effects of flaxseed supplementation as a part of daily diet on serum lipids, fatty acids and plasma enterolactone. DESIGN: Eighty volunteers participated in this clinical nutrition study which was carried out in a controlled, double-blind and cross-over manner. The subjects were randomized to diet sequences AB or BA. Diet A meals contained 1.3 g/100 g ground flaxseed and 5 g/100 g flaxseed oil. Also 3-4 g/100 of inulin and wheat fiber was added. AB diet with non-supplemented foods served as control. Test subjects were on both diets for 4 weeks separated by a 4-week wash-out period. Fifteen test subjects continued an open part of the study for 4 additional months. INTERVENTIONS: The dietary intake, basic blood values, serum lipids, fatty acids and enterolactone were measured at baseline, after both intervention periods and during the open study, at baseline and after 2 and 4 months. Serum thiocyanate and blood cadmium were controlled after both intervention periods. RESULTS: The percentage of flaxseed supplemented test food out of total dietary intake was 20% of energy. The test food contained significantly higher amounts of fiber, polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) and especially alpha-linolenic acid than the control food. No significant changes were observed in the basic laboratory values or in blood lipids. There was a significant increase in serum alpha-linolenic acid, eicosapentaenoic acid and docosapentaenoic acid. Serum enterolactone concentration was doubled during flaxseed supplementation. Serum thiocyanate and blood cadmium values did not exceed reference values and there was no difference between the diets. CONCLUSIONS: In this study we were able to show that, by adding ground flaxseed and flaxseed oil to one or two daily meals, it is possible to obtain significant effects on serum levels of enterolactone and alpha-linolenic acid. SPONSORSHIP: The study was sponsored by the National Technology Agency of Finland (Tekes).

Coffee consumption and the risk of coronary heart disease and death.

OBJECTIVES: To study prospectively the relation of coffee drinking with fatal and nonfatal coronary heart disease (CHD) and all-cause mortality and to perform a cross-sectional analysis at baseline on the association between coffee drinking and CHD risk factors, diagnosed diseases, self-reported symptoms, and use of medicines. METHODS: The study cohort consisted of 20 179 randomly selected eastern Finnish men and women aged 30 to 59 years who participated in a cross-sectional risk factor survey in 1972, 1977, or 1982. Habitual coffee drinking, health behavior, major known CHD risk factors, and medical history were assessed at the baseline examination. Each subject was followed up for 10 years after the survey using the national hospital discharge and death registers. Multivariate analyses were performed by using the Cox proportional hazards model. RESULTS: In men, the risk of nonfatal myocardial infarction was not associated with coffee drinking. The age-adjusted association of coffee drinking was J shaped with CHD mortality and U shaped with all-cause mortality. The highest CHD mortality was found among those who did not drink coffee at all (multivariate adjusted). Also, in women, all-cause mortality decreased by increasing coffee drinking. The prevalence of smoking and the mean level of serum cholesterol increased with increasing coffee drinking. Non-coffee drinkers more often reported a history of various diseases and symptoms, and they also more frequently used several drugs compared with coffee drinkers. CONCLUSIONS: Coffee drinking does not increase the risk of CHD or death. In men, slightly increased mortality from CHD and all causes in heavy coffee drinkers is largely explained by the effects of smoking and a high serum cholesterol level. Arch Intern Med. 2000;160:3393-3400.

Lack of effect on blood pressure by polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fat diets.

We carried out a blind highly controlled study to investigate the effects of a sunflower-oil-rich diet and a rapeseed-oil-rich diet on the blood pressure of normotensive subjects. Twenty-nine men and 30 women, average age 30 years (range 18-65) were first fed a baseline diet high in saturated fatty acids (19 E% (percentage of total energy), total fat 36 E%) for 2 weeks. According to the crossover design 30 subjects then received a sunflower oil diet high in polyunsaturated fatty acids (13 E%, total fat 38 E%) followed by a low erucic acid rapeseed oil diet high in monounsaturated fatty acids (16 E%, total fat 38 E%) for 3.5 weeks each. The other 29 subjects had the same diets in reverse order. At the end of the saturated fat period systolic blood pressure was 122.6 +/- 11.5(mean +/- SD) mmHg and diastolic blood pressure 75.4 +/- 7.5 mmHg; during the sunflower oil diet the figures were 119.6 +/- 10.3 and 73.9 +/- 7.4 mmHg, and during the rapeseed oil diet 120.1 +/- 11.2 and 72.6 +/- 6.4 mmHg, respectively. There was a significant difference in diastolic blood pressure only between the two oil diets (P less than 0.01). At the end of a 4 weeks' recovery period the systolic and diastolic blood pressures of the subjects were even lower (118.6 +/- 10.6 and 72.3 +/- 8.3 mmHg, respectively) than during the study. These results suggest that the dietary changes had only minor effects - if any at all - on blood pressure in healthy normotensive subjects.