Effect of a High Saturated Fat and No-Starch Diet

Effect of a High Saturated Fat and No-Starch Diet on Serum Lipid Subfractions in Patients With Documented Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Disease

JAMES H. HAYS, MD; ANGELA DISABATINO, RN, MS; ROBERT T. GORMAN, PHD;
SIMI VINCENT, PHD, MD; AND MICHAEL E. STILLABOWER, MD

Full article: Mayo Clinic [PDF file]

The Retreat of the Diet-Heart Hypothesis

"The original diet-heart hypothesis was overly optimistic. That's the word from Frank B. Hu and Walter C. Willett, well-known epidemiologists from Harvard University."

by Uffe Ravnskov, MD, PhD

The Association of American Physicians and Surgeons [PDF File]

Roles of Drinking Pattern and Type of Alcohol Consumed in Coronary Heart Disease in Men

The New England Journal of Medicine
Volume 348:109-118 January 9, 2003 Number 2

Kenneth J. Mukamal, M.D., M.P.H., Katherine M. Conigrave, M.B., B.S., Ph.D., Murray A. Mittleman, M.D., Dr.P.H., Carlos A. Camargo, Jr., M.D., Dr.P.H., Meir J. Stampfer, M.D., Dr.P.H., Walter C. Willett, M.D., Dr.P.H., and Eric B. Rimm, Sc.D.

ABSTRACT

Background
Although moderate drinking confers a decreased risk of myocardial infarction, the roles of the drinking pattern and type of beverage remain unclear.

Methods
We studied the association of alcohol consumption with the risk of myocardial infarction among 38,077 male health professionals who were free of cardiovascular disease and cancer at base line. We assessed the consumption of beer, red wine, white wine, and liquor individually every four years using validated food-frequency questionnaires. We documented cases of nonfatal myocardial infarction and fatal coronary heart disease from 1986 to 1998.

Results
During 12 years of follow-up, there were 1418 cases of myocardial infarction. As compared with men who consumed alcohol less than once per week, men who consumed alcohol three to four or five to seven days per week had decreased risks of myocardial infarction (multivariate relative risk, 0.68 [95 percent confidence interval, 0.55 to 0.84] and 0.63 [95 percent confidence interval, 0.54 to 0.74], respectively). The risk was similar among men who consumed less than 10 g of alcohol per drinking day and those who consumed 30 g or more. No single type of beverage conferred additional benefit, nor did consumption with meals. A 12.5-g increase in daily alcohol consumption over a four-year follow-up period was associated with a relative risk of myocardial infarction of 0.78 (95 percent confidence interval, 0.62 to 0.99).

Conclusions
Among men, consumption of alcohol at least three to four days per week was inversely associated with the risk of myocardial infarction. Neither the type of beverage nor the proportion consumed with meals substantially altered this association. Men who increased their alcohol consumption by a moderate amount during follow-up had a decreased risk of myocardial infarction.

Source: NEJM

Atkins diet 'is beneficial and twice as effective as rivals'

The controversial Atkins diet, which severely restricts carbohydrates in favour of unlimited amounts of fat and protein, is twice as effective as conventional diets at shedding excess pounds, new research has shown.

In a six-month trial, volunteers following the regime lost twice as much weight as those on more traditional low-calorie, high-carbohydrate diets.

And despite fears that the bestselling diet could be harmful in the long term, researchers found that the diet protected against heart disease by increasing levels of "good" cholesterol.

Full article: telegraph.co.uk

Hepatic de novo lipogenesis in normoinsulinemic and hyperinsulinemic subjects consuming high-fat, low-carbohydrate and low-fat, high-carbohydrate isoenergetic diets

"Compared with baseline, consumption of the high-fat, low-carbohydrate diet did not affect triacylglycerol concentrations. However, after the low-fat, high-carbohydrate diet, triacylglycerols increased significantly and DNL was 5–6-fold higher than in normoinsulinemic subjects consuming a high-fat diet. The increase in triacylglycerol after the low-fat, high-carbohydrate diet was correlated with fractional DNL (P < 0.01), indicating that subjects with high DNL had the greatest increase in triacylglycerols.

Conclusions: These results support the concept that both hyperinsulinemia and a low-fat diet increase DNL, and that DNL contributes to hypertriglyceridemia."

American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol. 77, No. 1, 43-50, January 2003

Full article: American Journal of Clinical Nutrition

Effect of protein and methionine intakes on plasma homocysteine

Effect of protein and methionine intakes on plasma homocysteine concentrations: a 6-mo randomized controlled trial in overweight subjects1,2,3

Nikolaj Haulrik, Sψren Toubro, Jψrn Dyerberg, Steen Stender, Annebeth R Skov and Arne Astrup

1 From the Research Department of Human Nutrition, The Royal Veterinary and Agricultural University, Copenhagen.

Background: A high plasma homocysteine concentration is an independent risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Homocysteine concentrations are thought to be raised by high protein and methionine intakes.

Objective: Our goal was to investigate the effects of high and low protein and methionine intakes on homocysteine in overweight subjects.

Design: Sixty-five overweight subjects were randomly assigned to a 6-mo intervention with a low-protein, low-methionine diet (LP: 12% of total energy, 1.4 g methionine/d; n = 25); a high-protein, high-methionine diet (HP: 22% of total energy, 2.7 g methionine/d; n = 25), both of which had similar fat contents (30% of total energy); or a control diet with an intermediate protein content (n = 15). All food was self-selected at a shop at the department. Protein intake was increased in the HP group mainly through lean meat and low-fat dairy products. Dietary compliance was evaluated by urinary nitrogen excretion.

Results: Homocysteine concentrations did not change significantly in the LP or control groups but were 25% lower in the HP group (NS). Homocysteine concentrations after the 3-mo intervention were inversely associated with vitamin B-12 intake and with weight change (by multivariate analysis performed for all subjects), but not with methionine or protein intake. Sixty-nine percent of the variation could be explained by baseline homocysteine (P < 0.001), 2% by vitamin B-12 (P = 0.02), and another 2% by weight change (P = 0.06). The plasma homocysteine concentration after 6 mo was associated only with baseline homocysteine (P < 0.001).

Conclusion: A high-protein, high-methionine diet does not raise homocysteine concentrations compared with a low-protein, low-methionine diet in overweight subjects.

Key Words: Protein • methionine • homocysteine • diet • obesity • cardiovascular disease

American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol. 76, No. 6, 1202-1206, December 2002 © 2002 American Society for Clinical Nutrition

Source: http://www.ajcn.org/cgi/content/abstract/76/6/1202

Effects of dietary fructose on plasma lipids

Effects of dietary fructose on plasma lipids in healthy subjects1,2,3

John P Bantle, Susan K Raatz, William Thomas and Angeliki Georgopoulos

1 From the Department of Medicine, the General Clinical Research Center, the Division of Biostatistics, and the School of Public Health, the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, and the Veterans Administration Medical Center, Minneapolis.

Background: About 9% of average dietary energy intake in the United States comes from fructose. Such a high consumption raises concern about the metabolic effects of this sugar.

Objective: The objective of this study was to determine the effect of dietary fructose on plasma lipids.

Design: The study was conducted in the General Clinical Research Center at Fairview-University of Minnesota Medical Center. The participants were 24 healthy adult volunteers (12 men and 12 women; 6 of each sex were aged <40 y and 6 of each sex were aged 40 y). All subjects received 2 isoenergetic study diets assigned by using a randomized, balanced crossover design. One diet provided 17% of energy as fructose. The other diet was sweetened with glucose and was nearly devoid of fructose. Each diet was fed for 6 wk. Both diets were composed of common foods and contained nearly identical amounts of carbohydrate, protein, fat, fiber, cholesterol, and saturated, monounsaturated, and polyunsaturated fatty acids. All meals were prepared in the metabolic kitchen of the General Clinical Research Center.

Results: The responses to the study diets differed by sex. In men, the fructose diet produced significantly higher fasting, postprandial, and daylong plasma triacylglycerol concentrations than did the glucose diet. The daylong plasma triacylglycerol concentration after 6 wk of the fructose diet was 32% greater in men than the corresponding concentration during the glucose diet (P < 0.001). The fructose diet had no significant effect on fasting or postprandial plasma triacylglycerol concentrations in women. The fructose diet also had no persistent effect on fasting plasma cholesterol, HDL cholesterol, or LDL cholesterol in either men or women.

Conclusions: Dietary fructose was associated with increased fasting and postprandial plasma triacylglycerol concentrations in men. Diets high in added fructose may be undesirable, particularly for men. Glucose may be a suitable replacement sugar.

Key Words: Dietary fructose • dietary glucose • healthy adults • plasma lipids • plasma glucose • serum insulin

American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol. 72, No. 5, 1128-1134, November 2000 © 2000 American Society for Clinical Nutrition

Source: http://www.ajcn.org/cgi/content/abstract/72/5/1128