Plasma Lipid Response to Hypolipidemic Diets in Young Healthy Non-Obese Men Varies with Body Mass Index

Manuscript received 7 July 1997. Initial reviews completed 18 September 1997. Revision accepted 4 March 1998.

Lipid Research Unit, University Hospital Reina Sofia, University of Cordoba Medical School, Cordoba 14004, Spain and ^* Lipid Metabolism Laboratory, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University, Boston, MA 02111

Lipid response to dietary fat is highly variable among individuals of a population. The aim of this study was to establish whether being overweight is one of the factors that determines this response. Forty-one non-obese healthy men were divided into two groups according to body mass index as follows: controls, <25 kg/m²; overweight, >25 kg/m² but <30 kg/m². After consuming a saturated fat-rich diet (SAT diet: 38% fat, 20% saturated) for 4 wk, subjects were switched to a low fat diet [National Cholesterol Education Program (NCEP)-I diet: 28% fat, 10% saturated] for 4 wk and then to a monounsaturated fat-rich diet (MUFA diet: 38% fat, 22% monounsaturated) for 4 wk. Data were analyzed by Student's t test and two-way ANOVA for repeated measures. After consuming the NCEP-I diet, the overweight subjects had a smaller decrease relative to the SAT diet period in plasma total cholesterol [0.30 vs. 0.67 mmol/L (7 vs. 16%), P < 0.02] and low density lipoprotein-cholesterol concentrations [0.24 vs. 0.55 mmol/L (9 vs. 21%), P < 0.04] than controls. However, in the overweight subjects, the MUFA diet produced a greater decrease in plasma triglycerides than in the controls relative to the SAT diet period [0.36 vs. 0.03 mmol/L (26 vs. 4%), P < 0.006] and to the NCEP-I diet period [0.29 vs. 0.01 mmol/L (22 vs. 1%), P < 0.01). Plasma cholesterol concentrations changed to a lesser extent, and triglyceride concentration to a greater extent, in overweight but non-obese young men than in those of normal weight in response to changes in dietary fat composition. Our data suggest that in the diet treatment of obese hyperlipemic subjects, it is more important for them to lose weight than to change the fat composition of their diets.

The Journal of Nutrition Vol. 128 No. 7 July 1998, pp. 1144-1149
Copyright ©1998 by the American Society for Nutritional Sciences

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