Exchanging a few commercial, regularly consumed food items with improved fat quality reduces total cholesterol and LDL-cholesterol: a double-blind, randomised controlled trial.

The healthy Nordic diet has been previously shown to have health beneficial effects among subjects at risk of CVD. However, the extent of food changes needed to achieve these effects is less explored. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of exchanging a few commercially available, regularly consumed key food items (e.g. spread on bread, fat for cooking, cheese, bread and cereals) with improved fat quality on total cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol and inflammatory markers in a double-blind randomised, controlled trial. In total, 115 moderately hypercholesterolaemic, non-statin-treated adults (25-70 years) were randomly assigned to an experimental diet group (Ex-diet group) or control diet group (C-diet group) for 8 weeks with commercially available food items with different fatty acid composition (replacing SFA with mostly n-6 PUFA). In the Ex-diet group, serum total cholesterol (P<0·001) and LDL-cholesterol (P<0·001) were reduced after 8 weeks, compared with the C-diet group. The difference in change between the two groups at the end of the study was -9 and -11 % in total cholesterol and LDL-cholesterol, respectively. No difference in change in plasma levels of inflammatory markers (high-sensitive C-reactive protein, IL-6, soluble TNF receptor 1 and interferon-γ) was observed between the groups. In conclusion, exchanging a few regularly consumed food items with improved fat quality reduces total cholesterol, with no negative effect on levels of inflammatory markers. This shows that an exchange of a few commercially available food items was easy and manageable and led to clinically relevant cholesterol reduction, potentially affecting future CVD risk.

Substitution of TAG oil with diacylglycerol oil in food items improves the predicted 10 years cardiovascular risk score in healthy, overweight subjects.

Dietary fat is normally in TAG form, but diacylglycerol (DAG) is a natural component of edible oils. Studies have shown that consumption of DAG results in metabolic characteristics that are distinct from those of TAG, which may be beneficial in preventing and managing obesity. The objective of the present study was to investigate if food items in which part of the TAG oil is replaced with DAG oil combined with high α-linolenic acid (ALA) content would influence metabolic markers. A 12-week double-blinded randomised controlled parallel-design study was conducted. The participants (n 23) were healthy, overweight men and women, aged 37-67 years, BMI 27-35 kg/m(2), with waist circumference >94 cm (men) and >88 cm (women). The two groups received 20 g margarine, 11 g mayonnaise and 12 g oil per d, containing either high ALA and sn-1,3-DAG or high ALA and TAG. Substitution of TAG oil with DAG oil in food items for 12 weeks led to an improvement of the predicted 10 years cardiovascular risk score in overweight subjects by non-significantly improving markers of health such as total body fat percentage, trunk fat mass, alanine aminotransferase, systolic blood pressure, γ-glutamyl transferase, alkaline phosphatase and total fat-free mass. This may suggest that replacing TAG oil with DAG oil in healthy, overweight individuals may have beneficial metabolic effects.

Effects of similar intakes of marine n-3 fatty acids from enriched food products and fish oil on cardiovascular risk markers in healthy human subjects.

There is convincing evidence that consumption of fish and fish oil rich in long-chain (LC) n-3 PUFA (n-3 LCPUFA), EPA (20 : 5n-3) and DHA (22 : 6n-3) reduce the risk of CHD. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether n-3 LCPUFA-enriched food products provide similar beneficial effects as fish oil with regard to incorporation into plasma lipids and effects on cardiovascular risk markers. A parallel 7-week intervention trial was performed where 159 healthy men and women were randomised to consume either 34 g fish pâté (n 44), 500 ml fruit juice (n 38) or three capsules of concentrated fish oil (n 40), all contributing to a daily intake of approximately 1 g EPA and DHA. A fourth group did not receive any supplementation or food product and served as controls (n 37). Plasma fatty acid composition, serum lipids, and markers of inflammation and oxidative stress were measured. Compared with the control group, plasma n-3 LCPUFA and EPA:arachidonic acid ratio increased equally in all intervention groups. However, no significant changes in blood lipids and markers of inflammation and oxidative stress were observed. In conclusion, enriched fish pâté and fruit juice represent suitable delivery systems for n-3 LCPUFA. However, although the dose given is known to reduce the risk of CVD, no significant changes were observed on cardiovascular risk markers in this healthy population.

Metabolic effects of krill oil are essentially similar to those of fish oil but at lower dose of EPA and DHA, in healthy volunteers.

The purpose of the present study is to investigate the effects of krill oil and fish oil on serum lipids and markers of oxidative stress and inflammation and to evaluate if different molecular forms, triacylglycerol and phospholipids, of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) influence the plasma level of EPA and DHA differently. One hundred thirteen subjects with normal or slightly elevated total blood cholesterol and/or triglyceride levels were randomized into three groups and given either six capsules of krill oil (N = 36; 3.0 g/day, EPA + DHA = 543 mg) or three capsules of fish oil (N = 40; 1.8 g/day, EPA + DHA = 864 mg) daily for 7 weeks. A third group did not receive any supplementation and served as controls (N = 37). A significant increase in plasma EPA, DHA, and DPA was observed in the subjects supplemented with n-3 PUFAs as compared with the controls, but there were no significant differences in the changes in any of the n-3 PUFAs between the fish oil and the krill oil groups. No statistically significant differences in changes in any of the serum lipids or the markers of oxidative stress and inflammation between the study groups were observed. Krill oil and fish oil thus represent comparable dietary sources of n-3 PUFAs, even if the EPA + DHA dose in the krill oil was 62.8% of that in the fish oil.

Seafood diets: hypolipidemic and antiatherogenic effects of taurine and n-3 fatty acids.

BACKGROUND: Health aspects of seafood have primarily been linked to n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA), eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). Although animal studies have suggested beneficial contributions from taurine, highly abundant in seafood, its effect in humans is obscure. This study evaluates the combined effects of n-3 PUFA and taurine. METHODS: Healthy volunteers (n=80) were recruited to a 7-week double-blind and parallel intervention trial. One group (n=39) received fish pâté (36g/day) enriched in n-3 (1.1gEPA+DHA/day) and the second (n=41) an identical pâté enriched both in n-3 and taurine (425mg/day). RESULTS: Total cholesterol (TC) (-5%, P<0.001), low-density lipoprotein (LDL)-cholesterol (-8%, P<0.001) and Apo B (-4%, P<0.001) decreased more in the n-3+taurine compared to the n-3 group. A significant within-group enhancement of high-density lipoprotein (HDL)-cholesterol was demonstrated in the n-3+taurine group (6%, P<0.0001). Reductions in triacylglycerol (TG) (-16%, P<0.05 in n-3; -14%, P<0.05 in n-3+taurine), thromboxane B(2) (TxB(2)) (-21%, P<0.001 in n-3; -15%, P<0.05 in n-3+taurine), tumor necrosis factor (TNFalpha) (-24%, P<0.001 in n-3; -12%, P<0.05 in n-3+taurine) and monocyte chemotactic protein (MCP-1) (-12%, P<0.05 in n-3; -6%, P<0.0001 in n-3+taurine) were evident in both groups. Reductions in interleukin (IL)-6 (-16%, P<0.05) and LTB(4) (-18%, P<0.05) were only significant in the n-3 group. CONCLUSIONS: The effects, particularly on blood lipids, of combining n-3 PUFA's and taurine proved superior to those of n-3 alone.