Snack chips fried in corn oil alleviate cardiovascular disease risk factors when substituted for low-fat or high-fat snacks

Fried food consumption and the risk of pancreatic cancer: A large prospective multicenter study

Background and aims

Whether fried food consumption is associated with the risk of pancreatic cancer remains elusive. We aimed to examine this association in a US population.

Methods

A population-based cohort of 101,729 US adults was identified. Fried food consumption was assessed with a validated food frequency questionnaire. Hazard ratios (HRs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated. Explanatory analyses were conducted to identify main contributor(s) to the observed association.

Results

During an average follow-up of 8.86 years (900871.2 person-years), 402 pancreatic cancer cases occurred. High consumption of total fried foods (deep-fried plus pan-fried foods; HRquartile4 vs. 1 0.71, 95% CI 0.51-0.99, P trend = 0.047) and deep-fried foods (HRquartile 4 vs. 1 0.64, 95% CI 0.47-0.88, P trend = 0.011), but not pan-fried foods (HRquartile 4 vs. 1 0.98, 95% CI 0.73-1.32; P trend = 0.815), was found to be associated with a reduced risk of pancreatic cancer in a non-linear dose-response manner, which was not modified by predefined stratification factors and persisted in sensitivity analyses. In explanatory analyses, only chip consumption was found to be inversely associated with the risk of pancreatic cancer; consistently, the initial significant associations between total fried food and deep-fried food consumption and the risk of pancreatic cancer changed to be non-significant after omitting or further adjusting for chip consumption.

Conclusion

Consumption of deep-fried foods, but not pan-fried foods, is inversely associated with the risk of pancreatic cancer in this US population. The role of deep-fried foods in reducing the risk of pancreatic cancer appears to be mainly attributable to chips. More studies are needed to confirm our findings in other populations and settings.

Reporting of trans-fat on labels of Brazilian food products

Objective

The present study investigated how trans-fat is reported on the packaging of foods sold in a Brazilian supermarket.

Design

The present descriptive, cross-sectional study analysed the ingredient list, nutrition facts label and claims of no trans-fat on the packaging.

Setting

A large supermarket in Florianópolis, Brazil.

Subjects

All food products available at the supermarket.

Results

Of the 2327 study products, more than half had components containing trans-fat in the ingredient list, especially hydrogenated vegetable fat and its alternative names. A small percentage of food products reported some trans-fat content on the nutrition facts label and roughly a quarter of the food products claimed to contain no trans-fat on the front of the packaging. There was very low agreement among the trans-fat content reported in the nutrition facts label, claims of no trans-fat made on the packaging and the ingredient list.

Conclusions

There was low agreement among the different ways of reporting trans-fat, suggesting that it is not possible to rely on the nutrition facts label or no trans-fat claims printed on the packaging of Brazilian food products. Hence, the Brazilian legislation on food labels needs to change to improve the reliability of food labels and to help control the trans-fat intake of the population.

Presence of metabolic syndrome and cardiovascular risk factors in adolescents and University students in Crete (Greece), according to different levels of snack consumption

The aim of this study was to investigate the presence of cardiovascular and metabolic syndrome (MetSyn) risk factors in adolescents and University students in Crete (Greece), according to different levels of snack consumption. 237 adolescents (14.2-16.3 years) and 196 University students (19.5-31.5 years) participated during 2002/3 and 2004/5. Dietary intake (24-h dietary recalls), cardiorespiratory fitness, smoking habits, time spent watching television, anthropometric, blood pressure and biochemical measurements were assessed in all subjects. Adolescents consumed snacks more often than University students (62% vs. 49.5%, P < 0.05) and had significantly higher total energy intake (8629 vs. 7641 kJ, P < 0.05) and energy intake from snacks (2537 vs. 1767 kJ, P < 0.001). Snack consumers had higher energy intake than non-consumers in both groups. No relationship was found between snack consumption and MetSyn risk factors, cardiorespiratory fitness and smoking. However, University students who consumed snacks had 15.36 times higher risk of having ≥ 2 MetSyn risk factors than adolescent snack consumers, had considerably higher LDL-cholesterol levels, total: HDL-cholesterol ratio and watched more television than non-consumers. These findings emphasize the need for developing effective nutrition interventions to promote healthier snack choices in adolescents and young adults with characteristics similar to our sample, in order to prevent cardiovascular risk later in adulthood.

Baseline serum C-reactive protein is associated with lipid responses to low-fat and high-polyunsaturated fat diets

Baseline serum C-reactive protein (CRP) concentrations play a role in the lipid response to diet. This study was a randomized, cross-over, controlled feeding study with 3 phases of 25 d each aimed at determining whether baseline CRP concentrations modulate the serum lipid response to diets differing in fat type and quantity. Participants were adult men and women, age 19-65 y, with LDL-cholesterol concentrations of 3.37-4.66 mmol/L. All participants consumed 3 diets differing in the type of snack, either low or high in fat: low-fat (30.8% of energy), moderate in fat and saturated fat (37.9 and 11.4% of energy, respectively), or moderate in fat and polyunsaturated fat (36.3 and 9.7% of energy, respectively). Using baseline CRP as a continuous variable, CRP x diet interactions on change in serum lipoprotein_a (P = 0.045) and HDL-cholesterol (P = 0.06) were observed. When we used previously established categories to define CRP concentrations (low, <1 mg/L; intermediate, 1-3 mg/L; or high, >3 mg/L), we found a CRP x diet interaction on change in triglyceride concentrations (P = 0.03) and trends for CRP x diet interaction on change in LDL (P = 0.06) and total cholesterol (P = 0.07). If replicated, these results suggest that considering baseline CRP concentrations when prescribing dietary interventions to lower lipid concentrations may be useful. Individuals with high baseline CRP concentrations may benefit from moderate-fat, high polyunsaturated fat diets, whereas those with low baseline CRP concentrations may obtain greater lipid-lowering benefits from low-fat diets.

Medium chain triglyceride oil consumption as part of a weight loss diet does not lead to an adverse metabolic profile when compared to olive oil

OBJECTIVE

Medium chain triglyceride (MCT) consumption may have a beneficial impact on weight management, however, some studies point to a negative impact of MCT oil consumption on cardiovascular disease risk. This study examined the effects of MCT oil consumption, as part of a weight loss diet, on metabolic risk profile compared to olive oil.

DESIGN

Thirty-one men and women, age 19-50 y and body mass index 27-33 kg/m(2), completed this randomized, controlled, 16-week weight loss program. Oils were consumed at a level of approximately 12% of the subjects' prescribed energy intakes in the form of muffins and liquid oil.

RESULTS

After controlling for body weight, there was a significant effect of time on fasting serum glucose (P = 0.0177) and total cholesterol (P = 0.0386) concentrations, and on diastolic blood pressure (P = 0.0413), with reductions in these variables occurring over time; there was no time-by-diet interaction for any of the parameters studied. Two of the 3 subjects in the MCT oil group with evidence of the metabolic syndrome at baseline did not have metabolic syndrome at endpoint. In the olive oil group, 6 subjects had the metabolic syndrome at baseline; 2 subjects no longer had metabolic syndrome at endpoint, 1 person developed metabolic syndrome, and 4 subjects did not have any change in their metabolic syndrome status.

CONCLUSIONS

Our results suggest that MCT oil can be incorporated into a weight loss program without fear of adversely affecting metabolic risk factors. Distinction should be made regarding chain length when it comes to discussing the effects of saturated fats on metabolic risk factors.

Dyslipidemia in obese cats

Obesity is an important endocrine disorder in cats and is a risk factor for diabetes similar to humans. The goal of this study was to examine the effect of long-term obesity and different diets (high protein, and high carbohydrate supplemented with saturated fatty acids or n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids) on plasma lipids in the fasted and fed states in 12 lean (LEAN) and 12 obese (OBESE) cats with ultracentrifugation, and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. OBESE had higher plasma non-esterified fatty acids and triglycerides, as well as very-low-density-lipoproteins (VLDL) consisting primarily of medium-sized particles. The concentration of low-density-lipoproteins (LDL) was comparable between the groups, although OBESE had mostly very small, whereas LEAN had mostly large particles. The concentration of high-density-lipoproteins (HDL) was lower in OBESE and consisted primarily of small particles. Plasma triglycerides, and triglycerides and cholesterol in all lipoproteins increased postprandially. Different diets had little effect on lipids. Our results show that long-term obese cats develop similar lipoprotein changes to humans, yet, hypertension and atherosclerosis have not been described in obese cats. This suggests that dyslipidemia alone is not sufficient to induce hypertension and atherosclerosis. Other anti-atherogenic factors may be present in the obese, dyslipidemic cat.

Intramyocellular lipid content is lower with a low-fat diet than with high-fat diets, but that may not be relevant for health

BACKGROUND

Fat deposition in muscle has been found to be related to metabolic risk.

OBJECTIVE

This study compared soleus intramyocellular lipid (IMCL) concentrations after consumption of weight-maintaining, controlled diets differing in total fat and fat type.

DESIGN

This study consisted of 3 phases of 25 d each in a crossover, controlled feeding design. The low-fat (LF) diet provided 30.8% and 5.2% of energy from fat and polyunsaturated fat (PUFA), respectively. Two higher-fat diets were tested: the high-fat (HF) diet provided 37.9% and 5.8% of energy from fat and PUFA, respectively, and the high-PUFA (HPUFA) diet provided 36.3% and 9.7% of energy from fat and PUFA, respectively. Twenty-four men and women [age range: 19-65 y; body mass index (in kg/m(2)): 20-35] whose LDL and glucose concentrations were between 130 and 180 mg/dL and <126 mg/dL, respectively, completed all study phases.

RESULTS

IMCL content was 1.88 times as high after the HF diet (P = 0.005) and 1.71 times as high after the HPUFA diet (P = 0.002) as after the LF diet. There was no significant correlation between percentage fat mass or waist circumference and IMCL content. With pooled data from all diets, there was no significant correlation between IMCL content and insulin or glucose concentration. There was no significant difference in IMCL content in subjects with or without the metabolic syndrome or in subjects with LDL particle pattern A or B.

CONCLUSIONS

Our results suggest that IMCL content is not modulated by dietary fat type but by total fat intake and that reducing fat intake effectively lowers IMCL. However, the metabolic implications of having lower IMCL concentrations are not clear.