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Phytosterol quantification in DASH and other popular diets
Author(s) -
Racette Susan B.,
Phillips Katherine M.,
Ma Lina,
Ostlund Richard E.
Publication year - 2007
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.21.5.a343-b
Subject(s) - phytosterol , dash , dash diet , food science , meal , chemistry , health benefits , medicine , traditional medicine , computer science , operating system
The Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet is recommended in the 2005 Dietary Guidelines due to its documented health benefits. Dietary phytosterols have been shown to reduce cholesterol absorption, and may be an important component of the DASH diet. The aim of this study was to quantify and compare the phytosterol content of 5 diets: DASH, American Heart Association (AHA), low‐carbohydrate, vegetarian, and an experimental low‐phytosterol diet. One‐day meal plans were prepared for each diet, and the foods were homogenized and analyzed using alkaline hydrolysis and acid+alkaline hydrolysis to quantify total phytosterol content and the contribution of glycosylated phytosterols to each diet. The total phytosterol content was highest in the DASH diet, followed by vegetarian, AHA, low‐carbohydrate, and the low‐phytosterol diet (558, 548, 387, 194, and 63 mg/2000 kcal, respectively). Akaline hydrolysis underestimated the total phytosterol content of the diets by 16–30%, because it does not quantify glycosylated phytosterols. In summary, the high phytosterol content of the DASH diet may be an important factor that contributes to its health benefits. The method used to quantify phytosterols in foods and diets must enable an assessment of glycosylated phytosterols, which contribute up to 30% to total phytosterol content. Supported by NIH Grant 5R01HL050420.