Comparing the Effects of Dairy Saturated Fatty Acids from Butter and Cheese on Non‐Lipid Cardiovascular Risk Factors in Men and Women

Abstract

OBJECTIVEThe primary objective of this study was to compare the impact of dairy saturated fatty acids (SFA) provided as cheese (CHEESE) or butter (BUTTER) on blood pressure, fasting glucose and C‐reactive protein (CRP) levels. The impacts of SFA from CHEESE were also compared to low SFA diet with either high monounsaturated (MUFA), polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) and carbohydrate (CHO) content.METHODSThese are preliminary data from 57 men and women, with abdominal obesity and with relatively low HDL‐C concentrations, enrolled in an on‐going multicenter randomized crossover controlled trial consisting of 5 isoenergetic diets of 4 weeks each (table 1): 1) a diet rich in SFA from cheese (CHEESE); 2) a diet rich in SFA from butter (BUTTER); 3) a diet rich in mono‐unsaturated fatty acids (MUFA); 4) a diet rich in poly‐unsaturated fatty acids (PUFA); and 5) a low‐fat, high carbohydrate diet (CHO). All foods were provided to participants in the context of this full feeding study. Fasting blood samples, office systolic (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP) and anthropometric measurements were taken at the end of each intervention.RESULTSMean age (±SD) of participants was 40.6 ± 13.6 years. Mean waist circumference was 107.7±11.3 cm in men and 94.9 ± 13.7 cm in women. No difference in body weight was observed among treatments. CHEESE compared with BUTTER had no significant impact on SBP (p=NS), DBP (p=NS), CRP (p=NS) and fasting glucose (p=NS) levels. CHEESE compared with the PUFA, MUFA and CHO diets also had no impact on these risk factors. There was also no statistically significant effect of diets on SBP (p=NS), DBP (p=NS), CRP (p=NS) or fasting glucose (p=NS) levels.CONCLUSIONSAs part of an overall healthy diet, these results suggest no deleterious short‐term effects of SFA from dairy, irrespective of the source (butter or cheese), on non‐lipid cardiovascular risk factors in men and women with abdominal obesity and with relatively low HDL‐C levels.Support or Funding InformationDairy Research Cluster Initiative (Dairy Farmers of Canada, Agriculture and Agri‐Food Canada, the Canadian Dairy Network and the Canadian Dairy Commission) Macronutrient (% energy), calcium and sodium content of experimental diets CHEESE BUTTER MUFA PUFA CHO Lipids (%) 32 32 32 32 25 SFA (%) 13 13 6 6 6 MUFA (%) 14 14 21 14 14 PUFA (%) 5 5 5 12 5 Carbohydrates (%) 52 52 52 52 59 Proteins (%) 16 16 16 16 16 Calcium (mg/2500 kcal) 1261 812 812 812 842 Sodium (mg/2500 kcal) 2482 2480 2479 2479 2485