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ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Davis, California » Western Human Nutrition Research Center » Obesity and Metabolism Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #313052
Title: Consumption of high-fat meal containing cheese compared to a vegan alternative lowers postprandial C-reactive protein in overweight and obese individuals with metabolic abnormalities: a randomised controlled crossover study

Author
item DEMMER, ELIEKE - University Of California
item Van Loan, Marta
item RIVERA, NANCY - University Of California
item ROGERS, TARA - University Of California
item Gertz, Erik
item GERMAN, J - University Of California
item ZIVKOVIC, ANGELA - University Of California
item SMILOWITZ, JENNIFER - University Of California

Submitted to: Nutritional Science
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 12/11/2015
Publication Date: 2/8/2016
Citation: Demmer, E., Van Loan, M.D., Rivera, N., Rogers, T.S., Gertz, E.R., German, J.B., Zivkovic, A.M., Smilowitz, J.T. 2016. Consumption of high-fat meal containing cheese compared to a vegan alternative lowers postprandial C-reactive protein in overweight and obese individuals with metabolic abnormalities: a randomised controlled crossover study. Nutritional Science. 5(e9):1-12. doi: 10.1017/jns.2015.40.

Interpretive Summary: The American Dietary Guidelines state that saturated fat intake should be limited. The premise for this guideline is the belief that all saturated fats increase the risk for cardiovascular disease because saturated fat can create an inflammatory reaction. Recently scientific evidence has suggested otherwise. We conducted a study in which overweight and obese men and women consumed a high saturated fat meal with plant (palm oil)vs. animal saturated fat(cheese). We monitored changes in inflammatory markers and found that post meal triglycerides rose steadily when both saturated fats were consumed. We also found that a variety of inflammatory markers were elevated after the high saturated fat meal, but increase in inflammatory markers after the cheese meal was not greater than that with the plant-based saturated fat. These results suggest that the specific composition of the saturated fat may be the key to whether or not high saturated fat intake presents a cardiovascular risk.

Technical Abstract: Background. Dietary recommendations suggest decreased consumption of saturated fatty acids (SFA) to minimize cardiovascular disease risk, however not all foods rich in SFA are equivalent. It is proposed that the effect of SFA on postprandial inflammation is influenced by the specific composition and dietary source of SFA. Objective: To evaluate the effects of SFA from dairy, as cheddar cheese, versus SFA from a plant source (palm oil) on postprandial inflammation markers. Method. A randomized controlled cross-over trial was conducted with 20 overweight adults with 2 metabolic syndrome traits or obese individuals, 18-65y of age, who consumed two isocaloric high fat meals separated by a 1-2wk washout period. Serum was collected at baseline, 1, 3, and 6h postprandially and analyzed for inflammatory markers (Interleukin-6 (IL-6), IL-8, IL-10, IL-17, IL-18, tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFa), monocyte chemotactic protein-1 (MCP-1), C-reactive protein (CRP), serum amyloid-A (SAA), cellular adhesion molecules) and metabolic markers including glucose, insulin, triglycerides (TG), high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), and HDL:LDL. Results. Following both high-fat mixed meals, postprandial TG concentrations rose steadily (p<0.05) for all time points with no sign of decrease at the 6h time point. No treatment effect was observed for the inflammatory markers, however, multiple markers did demonstrate a time effect; SAA peaked at 1h, IL-8 peaked at 3h, while IL-6, MCP-1, and TNFa peaked at 6h. Conclusion. Dairy fat as cheese did not trigger an inflammatory response during the immediate postprandial state within 6 h of a high fat meal challenge, and its effects were not different from the non-dairy cheese substitute containing palm oil.