Long-term effect of reduced carbohydrate or increased fiber intake on LDL particle size and HDL composition in subjects with type 2 diabetes

Abstract

To determine the long-term effect of reducing carbohydrate or increasing fiber intakes on LDL particle size and HDL composition, 69 subjects with type 2 diabetes randomly received ∼10% energy from low-fiber breakfast cereal (LF), high-fiber cereal (HF), or monounsaturated fatty acid-rich oil/margarine (MUFA) for 6mo. Compared to LF, serum-triglyceride fell by ∼12% on MUFA and increased by ∼13% on HF (p<0.05). LDL-size fell significantly on both MUFA and HF. HDL-triglyceride did not change significantly on MUFA, but increased by ∼20% on HF (p<0.05). Changes in HDL-triglyceride, but not changes in LDL-size, were significantly related to changes in serum triglyceride. Thus, modest long-term changes in carbohydrate and fiber intakes affected LDL particle size and HDL-triglyceride in type 2 diabetic subjects. The changes in HDL composition may have been driven by changes in serum triglyceride, but the changes in LDL particle size appear to have been caused by other factors.