The British journal of nutrition
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Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical Trial
A comparison of the effects of cheese and butter on serum lipids, haemostatic variables and homocysteine.
Milk fat contains considerable amounts of saturated fatty acids, known to increase serum cholesterol. Little is known, however, about the relative effect of different milk products on risk factors for CHD. The aim of the present study was to compare the effects of Jarlsberg cheese (a Norwegian variety of Swiss cheese) with butter on serum lipoproteins, haemostatic variables and homocysteine. ⋯ Total cholesterol was significantly lower after the CH diet than after the BC diet (-0.27 mmol/l; P=0.03), while the difference in LDL-cholesterol was found to be below significance level (-0.22 mmol/l; P=0.06). There were no significant differences in HDL-cholesterol, triacylglycerols, apo A-I, apo B or lipoprotein (a), haemostatic variables and homocysteine between the diets. The results indicate that, at equal fat content, cheese may be less cholesterol increasing than butter.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical Trial
Mental and psychomotor development in Indonesian infants of mothers supplemented with vitamin A in addition to iron during pregnancy.
Maternal nutrition is important for fetal development, but its impact on the functional outcome of infants is still unclear. The present study investigated the effects of vitamin A and Fe supplementation during gestation on infant mental and psychomotor development. Mothers of infants from five villages in Indonesia were randomly assigned to supervised, double-blind supplementation once per week from approximately 18 weeks of pregnancy until delivery. ⋯ The size of the treatment groups was large enough to detect a mean difference of 10 points on the BSID, which is less than 1 sd (15 points) of the average performance of an infant on the BSID. In conclusion, the present study did not find an impact of weekly supplementation of 4800 RE vitamin A in addition to Fe during gestation on functional development of Indonesian infants. However, smaller improvements in development may be seen if studied in a larger and/or more deficient population.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical Trial
A randomised four-intervention crossover study investigating the effect of carbohydrates on daytime profiles of insulin, glucose, non-esterified fatty acids and triacylglycerols in middle-aged men.
Postprandial concentrations of glucose, insulin and triacylglycerols (TG) correlate to risk for CHD. Carbohydrates affect many metabolites that could have a potential effect on cardiovascular risk factors. The objective of the present study was to examine, using a randomised prospective study, the acute (day 1) and ad libitum medium-term (day 24) effects of four diets: a high-fat diet (HIGH-FAT; 50 % fat, >34 % monounsaturated fatty acids); a low-glycaemic index (GI) diet (LOW-GI; high-carbohydrate, low-GI); a high-sucrose diet (SUCROSE; high carbohydrate increase of 90 g sucrose/d); a high-GI diet (HIGH-GI; high-carbohydrate, high-GI). ⋯ Despite being advised to maintain an identical energy intake there was a significant weight change (-0.27 (sem 0.3) kg; P<0.02) on the LOW-GI diet compared with the SUCROSE diet (+0.84 (sem 0.3) kg). In conclusion the HIGH-FAT diet had a beneficial effect on postprandial glucose and insulin over time but it was associated with higher postprandial concentrations of TG and NEFA. Conversely the HIGH-GI diet appeared to increase postprandial insulin resistance over the study period.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical Trial
Consumption of tall oil-derived phytosterols in a chocolate matrix significantly decreases plasma total and low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol levels.
In a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial we evaluated the effect of dietary chocolates enriched with a wood-based phytosterol-phytostanol mixture, containing 18 % (w/w) sitostanol, compared with placebo dietary chocolates in seventy subjects with primary hypercholesterolaemia (total cholesterol levels below 8 mmol/l). For 4 weeks, participants consumed three servings of the phytosterol-enriched chocolate/d that provided 1.8 g unesterified phytosterols/d or a placebo chocolate in conjunction with a low-fat, low-cholesterol diet. Plasma total and LDL-cholesterol levels were statistically significantly reduced by 6.4 % (-0.44 mmol/l) and 10.3 % (-0.49 mmol/l), respectively, after 4 weeks of phytosterol-enriched-chocolate treatment. ⋯ However, the absolute values of plasma sitosterol and campesterol remained within the normal range, that is, below 10 mg/l. The chocolates with phytosterols were palatable and induced no clinical or biochemical side effects. These findings indicate that dietary chocolate enriched with tall oil-derived phytosterols (1.8 g/d) is effective in lowering blood total and LDL-cholesterol levels in subjects with mild hypercholesterolaemia and thus may be helpful in reducing the risk of CHD in these individuals.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study Clinical Trial
The comparative gastrointestinal response of young children to the ingestion of 25 g sweets containing sucrose or isomalt.
Sugar-free confectionery products containing the low-energy, non-cariogenic sweetener isomalt are widely available in the market place and increasingly aimed at children. However, over-consumption of such products may lead to gastrointestinal symptoms and/or osmotic diarrhoea. Little is known about the gastrointestinal tolerance of children following consumption of isomalt. ⋯ However, significantly more children reported stomach-ache (P<0.01), abdominal rumbling (P<0.025) and passing watery faeces (P<0.001) following consumption of isomalt sweets compared with sucrose sweets. Consumption of 25 g isomalt-containing sweets by children is not associated with significant gastrointestinal effects graded as 'considerably more than usual' or multiple symptoms, but is associated with a laxative effect and increase in symptoms graded as 'slightly more than usual'. For the majority of children in the present study, 25 g isomalt-containing sweets represents an acceptable level of consumption, although some children are sensitive to the effects of isomalt ingestion.