Abstract
PurposeTo evaluate bioavailability of omega-3 long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LCPUFA) from foods enriched with novel vegetable-based encapsulated algal oil across Australian and Singaporean populations.Methods27 men (n = 12 Australian European; n = 15 Singaporean Chinese), 21–50 yr; 18–27.5 kg/m2, with low habitual intake of omega-3 LCPUFA completed a multicentre randomised controlled acute 3-way cross-over single-blind trial. They consumed, in random order 1-week apart after an overnight fast, standard breakfast meals including 400 mg docosahexanoic acid (DHA) from either extruded rice snacks or soup both containing cauliflower-encapsulated HiDHA® algal oil or gel capsules containing HiDHA® algal oil. Blood samples for analysis of plasma DHA and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) were taken pre-meal and after 2, 4, 6, 8 and 24 h. Primary analyses comparing 24-h incremental area under the plasma DHA, EPA and DHA + EPA concentration (µg/ml) curves (iAUC0-24 h) between test foods were performed using linear mixed models by including ethnicity as an interaction term.ResultsPlasma iAUC0-24 h did not differ significantly between test foods (adjusted mean [95% CI] plasma DHA + EPA: extruded rice snack, 8391 [5550, 11233] µg/mL*hour; soup, 8862 [6021, 11704] µg/mL*hour; capsules, 11,068 [8226, 13910] µg/mL*hour, P = 0.31) and did not differ significantly between Australian European and Singaporean Chinese (treatment*ethnicity interaction, P = 0.43).ConclusionThe vegetable-based omega-3 LCPUFA delivery system did not affect bioavailability of omega-3 LCPUFA in healthy young Australian and Singaporean men as assessed after a single meal over 24 h, nor was bioavailability affected by ethnicity. This novel delivery system may be an effective way to fortify foods/beverages with omega-3 LCPUFA.Trial registrationThe trial was registered with clinicaltrials.gov (NCT04610983), date of registration, 22 November 2020.
Highlights
Non-communicable diseases (NCD) in both Australia and Singapore account for significant proportions of deaths, disease burden and hospitalisations, with poor diet quality as the major contributor to the NCD burden [1,2,3]
Descriptive statistics estimated from raw data for docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and DHA + EPA iAUC0-24 h, Cmax and to maximal value (Tmax) are summarised in Supplemental Table 1
As different laboratories were used for the plasma EPA and DHA analysis, no conclusions can be made from this observation
Summary
Non-communicable diseases (NCD) in both Australia and Singapore account for significant proportions of deaths, disease burden and hospitalisations, with poor diet quality as the major contributor to the NCD burden [1,2,3]. Consumption of ~ 2–3 serves/week of fish, including oily fish, is recommended to achieve ~ 250 – 500 mg/day of combined EPA + DHA, and up to 1 g/day for those with CHD [14,15,16,17] Achieving these intakes through dietary means is challenging, for individuals who do not consume fish or seafood — the major dietary sources of omega-3 LCPUFA [8]. Several studies have shown that vegan diets are devoid of DHA and vegetarian diets that include dairy products and eggs only provide about 0.02 g DHA/day [18] These low intakes were accompanied by substantially lower levels of DHA in plasma, serum, red blood cells (RBC) and plasma phospholipids (PL) in vegans and vegetarians compared to omnivores [18]. Strategies such as fortifying commonly consumed foods and beverages that can be incorporated into the diet with omega-3 LCPUFA, will assist consumers in achieving their omega-3 LCPUFA intake targets and potentially contribute to positive health impacts
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