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Plant sterol esters lower plasma lipids and most carotenoids in mildly hypercholesterolemic adults

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Lipids

Abstract

The ability of plant sterol esters (PSE) in salad dressing to modify plasma lipids and carotenoids was determined in 26 men and 27 women fed controlled, weight-maintaining, isocaloric diets. Diets contained typical American foods that provided 32% of energy from fat. Dressings contained 8 g (ranch) or 4 g (Italian) of fat per serving. PSF (3.6 g/d) were provided in two servings/d of one of the dressings. Diets with ranch or Italian dressing without and with PSE were fed for 3 wk/diet and crossed over randomly within dressings. Diets were adjusted to similar fat and fatty acid concentrations. Type of salad dressing did not affect plasma lipids, lipoproteins, carotenoids, or fat-soluble vitamins (P>0.05). Switching from a self-selected baseline diet to the control diet resulted in reduction in low density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol of 7.9%, a decrease in high density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol of 3.1%, and a decrease in triglycerides (TG) of 9.3%. Consumption of 3.6 g of PSE resulted in further decreases in LDL cholesterol (9.7%) and TG (7.3%) but no additional change in HDL cholesterol. Total plasma carotenoids decreased 9.6% with PSE. An automated stepwise procedure was developed to produce candidate mixed models relating plasma carotenoid response to PSE. These models adjusted for preintervention plasma carotenoid levels and effects of diets on blood lipids. There were significant decreases in β-carotene, α-carotene, and β-cryptoxanthin (females only) not associated with changes in plasma lipids. Plasma carotenoids on all diets remained within normal ranges. We conclude that low-fat foods, such as salad dressings, are effective carriers for PSE.

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Abbreviations

ANOVA:

analysis of variance

Apo A1:

apolipoprotein A1

Apo B:

apolipoprotein B

BHNRC:

Beltsville Human Nutrition Research Center

BIC:

Schwartz's Bayesian information criteria

BMI:

body mass index

CVD:

cardiovascular disease

HDL:

ligh density lipoprotein

HPLC:

high-performance liquid chromatography

LDL:

low density lipoprotein

Lp(a):

lipoprotein (a)

NCEP:

National Cholesterol Education Program

PSE:

plant sterol esters

SEE:

standard error of the estimated or corrected mean

SEM:

standard error of the mean

SFA:

saturated fatty acid

TC:

total cholesterol

TG:

triglycerides

USDA:

U.S. Department of Agriculture

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Beltsville Human Nutrition Research Center, ARS, USDA, Building 308, BARC-East, 20705, Beltsville, Maryland

    Joseph T. Judd, David J. Baer & Beverly A. Clevidence

  2. Unilever Bestfoods NA, 07632, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey

    Shirley C. Chen & Gert W. Meijer

  3. The George Washington University Lipid Research Clinic, 20037, Washington, DC

    Richard A. Muesing

  4. Biometrical Consulting Service, Beltsville Area ARS, 20705, Beltsville, Maryland

    Matthew Kramer

Authors
  1. Joseph T. Judd
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  2. David J. Baer
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  3. Shirley C. Chen
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  4. Beverly A. Clevidence
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  5. Richard A. Muesing
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  6. Matthew Kramer
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  7. Gert W. Meijer
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Correspondence to Joseph T. Judd.

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Judd, J.T., Baer, D.J., Chen, S.C. et al. Plant sterol esters lower plasma lipids and most carotenoids in mildly hypercholesterolemic adults. Lipids 37, 33–42 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11745-002-0861-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11745-002-0861-y

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