Effects of a prudent diet containing either lean beef and mutton or fish and skinless chicken on the plasma lipoproteins and fatty acid composition of triacylglycerol and cholesteryl ester of hypercholesterolemic subjects

In this two-phased crossover study, 39 hypercholesterolemic subjects follow ed a prudent diet with either lean red meat or fish and skinless chicken (t reatment groups), and 13 subjects (reference group) followed their habitual diet. Fasting blood samples were analyzed for plasma total cholesterol, tr iacylglycerol (TAG), high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), low dens ity lipoprotein one- and two-cholesterol, aploipoprotein-B, very low densit y lipoprotein cholesterol, and very low density lipoprotein TAG, and fatty acid composition of plasma TAG and cholesterol ester (CE). Body mass and bl ood pressure were determined. Seven-day dietary records were kept once at b aseline and twice during the treatment periods. Significant differences wer e observed in dietary intake between the baseline and treatment diets and b etween the two treatment diets. HDL-C (P < 0.05) and diastolic blood pressu re (P < 0.01) were higher in patients on the red meat diet than in those on the chicken-fish diet. No other significant differences in lipoproteins we re observed between the effects of the two treatment diets. The linoleic ac id (%), eicosapentaenoic acid (%), and the eicosapentaenoic acid/arachidoni c acid ratios in TAG and CE were higher (P < 0.01) in subjects on the chick en-fish diet than in those on the red meat diet. In conclusion, this study showed that the effect of two lipid-lowering diets containing either lean r ed meat or skinless chicken and fish on the atherogenic lipoproteins did no t differ significantly. A prudent diet with skinless chicken and fish, howe ver, had a more favourable effect on the fatty acid composition of the plas ma TAG and the CE than did the lean red meat diet. (C) Elsevier Science Inc . 1999. All rights reserved.