Effect of milk fat on LDL cholesterol and other cardiovascular risk markers in healthy humans: the INNOVALAIT project (269.3)

Abstract

The atherogenicity of milk fat is under debate. Milk fatty acid content may depend on the animal breed, its feeding and the season of collection. Dairy calcium may change the kinetics of fat absorption. This study aims to compare the effect on LDL Cholesterol (LDLC) and other risk markers of 4 isolipidic regimen (R) which differ by the fat sources: spring milk fat (R2), winter milk fat (R3), winter milk fat supplemented with calcium (R4) and vegetable fat (R1).This double blind clinical study included 174 hypercholesterolemic adults (130 mg/dL<LDLC<220 mg/dL, TG <300 mg/dL) randomized in the 4 regimen groups for 8 weeks. R1 and R2 have the same saturated fat (SF) content (12.7% Energy vs 15% for R3, R4). R1, R3 and R4 have similar palmitic acid content (7% vs 5.2% for R2). For 2250 Kcal, the experimental dairy food brings 1040 mg Ca daily (R4) vs 415 mg (R1, R2, R3). 154 subjects (64% women) constitute the per protocol population. LDLC (R1 : 158±29 mg/dL, R2: 154±25 mg/dL, R3: 158±19 mg/dL, R4: 166±37 mg/dL) and TG are comparable at inclusion. After 8 weeks, there is no diet effect on LDLC, HDLC and TG, after adjustment for BMI, sex and baseline values. A diet effect is observed for apo B, apo C3 and CRP but the inter‐group comparison (Dunett) was not significant.It is concluded that high levels of SF (12.7 to 15%) from milk does not alter conventional cardiovascular risk markers after 8 weeks. In our trial, the origin of milk fat had no influence.Grant Funding Source: Supported by French Government, BBA, CNIEL and local fundings (Pays de Loire and Bretagne)