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Supplementation of Milled Chia Seeds Increases Plasma ALA and EPA in Postmenopausal Women

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Abstract

Ten postmenopausal women (age 55.6 ± 0.8 years, BMI 24.6 ± 1.1 kg/m2) ingested 25 g/day milled chia seed during a 7-week period, with six plasma samples collected for measurement of α-linolenic acid (ALA), eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), docosapentaenoic acid (DPA), and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). Subjects operated as their own controls with overnight fasted blood samples taken at baseline (average of two samples), and then after 1, 2, 3, 5, and 7 weeks supplementation. Plasma ALA increased significantly after one week supplementation and was 138 % above baseline levels by the end of the study (overall time effect, P < 0.001). EPA increased 30 % above baseline (overall time effect, P = 0.019) and was correlated across time with ALA (r = 0.84, P = 0.02). No significant change in plasma DPA levels was measured (overall time effect, P = 0.067). Plasma DHA decreased slightly by the end of the study (overall time effect, P = 0.030) and was not correlated with change in ALA. In conclusion, ingestion of 25 g/day milled chia seeds for seven weeks by postmenopausal women resulted in significant increases in plasma ALA and EPA but not DPA and DHA.

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Abbreviations

ALA:

α-linolenic acid

ANOVA:

Analysis of variance

AOAC:

Association of Official Agricultural Chemists

BMI:

Body mass index

DHA:

Docosahexaenoic acid

DPA:

Docosapentaenoic acid

EPA:

Eicosapentaenoic acid

GC-TOF-MS:

Gas chromatography time of flight mass spectrometry

HPLC-TOF-MS:

High performance liquid chromatography time of flight mass spectrometry

ICP-MS:

Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry

n-3-PUFAs:

n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids

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Acknowledgments

We acknowledge the assistance of Dustin Dew of Appalachian State University and Tondra Blevins of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill for their assistance in this project. We also acknowledge Raymond P. Glahn, Michael A. Rutzke, YongPei Chang, and Mary Bodis from the USDA/ARS at Cornell University for their assistance in the ICP-MS mineral analysis of the milled chia seed supplement. Financial support was provided in part by Chia Farms, Inc. (Orlando, FL, USA).

Conflict of Interest

All authors declare no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Human Performance Lab, North Carolina Research Campus, Plants for Human Health Institute, Appalachian State University, 600 Laureate Way, Kannapolis, NC, 28081, USA

    Fuxia Jin & David C. Nieman

  2. Bioinformatics Services Division, North Carolina Research Campus, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Kannapolis, NC, 28081, USA

    Wei Sha

  3. Department of Nutrition, Center for Research Excellence in Bioactive Food Components, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, 500 Laureate Way, Kannapolis, NC, 28081, USA

    Guoxiang Xie, Yunping Qiu & Wei Jia

Authors
  1. Fuxia Jin
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  2. David C. Nieman
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  3. Wei Sha
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  4. Guoxiang Xie
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  5. Yunping Qiu
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  6. Wei Jia
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Correspondence to David C. Nieman.

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Jin, F., Nieman, D.C., Sha, W. et al. Supplementation of Milled Chia Seeds Increases Plasma ALA and EPA in Postmenopausal Women. Plant Foods Hum Nutr 67, 105–110 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11130-012-0286-0

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