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Effects of Fish and Walnuts on LDL‐C and Triglycerides: Influence of BMI and Baseline Lipids
Author(s) -
Tanzman Jay S.,
Haddad Ella,
Rajaram Sujatha,
Sabaté Joan
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.20.5.a1027-c
Subject(s) - triglyceride , fish oil , ldl cholesterol , cholesterol , fish <actinopterygii> , polyunsaturated fatty acid , medicine , crossover study , endocrinology , food science , chemistry , zoology , fatty acid , biochemistry , biology , fishery , alternative medicine , pathology , placebo
Consumption of n3 fatty acids has been shown to produce cardiovascular benefits, but in some published studies, fish oil supplementation resulted in a paradoxical increase in LDL‐cholesterol (LDL‐C). We used mixed linear models to investigate how BMI and baseline serum lipids influence the effects of 2 sources of n3 fatty acids, fish and walnuts, on serum LDL‐C and triglyceride (TAG) levels in a randomized crossover metabolic trial. 25 subjects received 3 eucaloric diets for 4 wk each in random order. The diets conformed to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans and differed primarily in source and type of polyunsaturated fat: Walnut (42.5 g, 6 d/wk), Fish (113 g salmon, 2 d/wk), and Control (no fish or nuts). Compared with Control, we observed an LDL‐C‐increasing effect of Fish that was magnified in subjects with higher baseline LDL‐C (mean change ± SE: 3.2 ± 1.9 mg/dL for a baseline LDL‐C of 110 mg/dL vs 8.1 ± 2.0 for a baseline LDL‐C of 170; P value for diet‐baseline interaction 0.04). In contrast, we observed an LDL‐C‐lowering effect of Walnut that was uninfluenced by subjects’ baseline LDL‐C level. After controlling for baseline TAG, we observed a TAG‐lowering effect of Fish that attenuated with increasing BMI, reversed, and became a TAG‐increasing effect among the 3 subjects with the highest BMI (>30kg/m 2 ) (−23.2 ± 5.5 mg/dL at BMI of 22, −0.6 ± 6.4 at BMI of 27.5, 25.4 ± 17.1 at BMI of 33; P value for diet‐BMI interaction 0.02). We observed no effect on TAG for Walnut. In summary, high baseline LDL‐C magnified an LDL‐C‐increasing effect of Fish, but did not influence an LDL‐C‐lowering effect of Walnut; and high BMI attenuated a TAG‐lowering effect of Fish. Funding: California Walnut Commission