Abstract
Since the amounts of arachidonic acid (AA) and EPA in food may have implications for human health, we investigated whether a small change in chicken feed influenced the blood lipid concentration in humans ingesting the chicken. Forty-six young healthy volunteers (age 20–29) were randomly allocated into two groups in a double-blind dietary intervention trial, involving ingestion of about 160 g chicken meat per day for 4 weeks. The ingested meat was either from chickens given a feed concentrate resembling the commercial chicken feed, containing 4% soybean oil (SO), or the meat was from chickens given a feed where the soybean oil had been replaced by 2% rapeseed oil plus 2% linseed oil (RLO).Serum total cholesterol, LDL and HDL cholesterol, triacylglycerols, serum phospholipid fatty acid concentration, blood pressure, body weight and C-reactive protein were determined at baseline and post-intervention. In subjects consuming chicken meat from the RLO group there was a significantly (p < 0.001) increased concentration of EPA in serum phospholipids, and a reduced ratio between AA and EPA. The participants that had a low% of EPA + DHA in serum phospholipids (less than 4.6%), all increased their% of EPA + DHA after the four week intervention period when consuming the RLO chicken. No significant response differences in cholesterol, triacylglycerol, C-reactive protein, body weight or blood pressure were observed between the groups. This trial demonstrates that a simple change in chicken feed can have beneficial effects on amount of EPA and the AA/EPA ratio in human serum phospholipids.
Highlights
Chicken meat is popular to eat, and it is regarded as a healthy type of meat [1]
The objective of the present study was to examine the effects of consuming a daily portion of chicken meat for four weeks; either meat from chickens fed a traditional feed supplemented with soybean oil, or feed with linseed- plus rapeseed oil, on the fatty acid composition and the ratio n-6/n-3 and arachidonic acid (AA)/eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) in serum phospholipids, blood lipids, C-reactive protein and blood pressure in healthy 20–29 year old subjects
The present study shows that a daily intake of a moderate portion of chicken meat for 4 weeks can appreciably increase the concentration of EPA in serum phospholipids of young healthy humans, provided that the chickens had been fed rapeseed and linseed oil instead of similar amounts of soybean oil
Summary
Chicken meat is popular to eat, and it is regarded as a healthy type of meat [1]. In Norway poultry meat accounts for about 25% of the total meat intake [2,3], and the consumption of this type of meat has shown an increasing trend. Meat is one of the food items that are good carriers of long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LC PUFAs). The fatty acid composition of chicken meat is affected by the type of fat in the chicken feed. Commercial chicken feed is based on grains and soybean oil rich in n-6 fatty acids and the ratio of n-6 to n-3 in the feed is about 10–15/1. The potential of chickens to convert the n-6 and n-3 feed fatty acids to the
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