Comparing the Impact of Saturated Fatty Acids from Different Dairy Sources on Plasma Lipids: Preliminary Data from a Randomized Controlled Trial

Abstract

ObjectiveTo investigate the impact of saturated fatty acids (SFA) from different dairy products, namely cheese and butter, on plasma lipid levels in men and women.MethodsThis multicenter randomized crossover trial study involved 90 men and women with abdominal obesity and relatively low HDL‐C levels from the Quebec City and Winnipeg metropolitan areas. Subjects were randomized to sequences of 5 diets of 4 weeks each, with a 4 week washout between diets. The 5 isocaloric diets were the following: 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). The macronutrient, calcium and sodium content of each diet is shown in Table 1. All foods were provided to participants in the context of this feeding study.Preliminary resultsPreliminary results are presented for a total of 57 participants recruited in Quebec City. There was no significant change in anthropometric measurements among the five diets. BUTTER significantly raised serum LDL‐C and HDL‐C (+7.1% and +8.0% respectively, p<0.01) while CHEESE only raised serum HDL‐C (+5.3%, p<0.05) compared with CHO. Serum LDL‐C concentrations were higher with BUTTER than with CHEESE (+2.5%, p=0.02) while serum TG were higher with CHEESE than with BUTTER (+9.5%, p=0.007). Lowest serum LDL‐C concentrations were seen after the MUFA and the PUFA diets.ConclusionPreliminary data from this carefully controlled feeding study suggest that the cardiometabolic change induced by consumption of SFA may be influenced by its food source. SFA from cheese may have less of an effect on serum LDL‐C but may be associated with increased plasma TG levels compared with SFA from butter. This suggests that the food matrix may influence the impact of constituent nutrients on health. The impact of such findings in terms of cardiovascular risk needs to be investigated further.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