The Acute Effects of White Button and Shiitake Mushroom Powder Supplementation on Postprandial Lipemia Following a High Fat Meal

Background The current trend of rising obesity levels and poor dietary choices have led to an increased incidence of chronic diseases in the United States, including cardiovascular disease (CVD) and dyslipidemia. Fortifying popular meals in a typical Western diet with bioactive compounds that may negate some consequences of consumption is a novel approach to reducing a high fat meal's impact on post prandial lipemia. Bioactive compounds (ergosterol and beta‐glucan), found in high levels in mushrooms, has been shown to reduce cholesterol absorption. Fortifying food with ergosterol and Beta‐glucans may be an effective way to reduce post prandial lipemia from a high fat meal. Purpose To determine the acute effect on postprandial Lipemia by fortifying a high fat meal with either White Button (WB) or Shiitake (SH) mushroom powder. Methods 9 Healthy Subjects (5 females and 4 males, 23.3±1.2yr, 17.8±6% body fat, 56.2±11.4kg fat free mass) were randomized to receive three different meals. One meal consisted of an 8oz cooked beef patty and a bun (883kcal, 47g fat, 37.5g carbohydrate, 73.2g protein) with no mushrooms (control). The other two meals had 14g of either white button (WB), or shiitake (SH) dried mushroom powder incorporated into the beef patty. Subjects were fasted for 12h and avoided vigorous exercise on the day prior to testing. Prior to the consumption of each meal an indwelling venous catheter was placed. Blood was drawn directly before burger consumption and every two hours after for a total of six hours. A Lipid Panel was performed on all blood samples to determine lipemia following the test meal. Results Postprandial serum triglycerides were generally lower in the WB group 38.9±4.4 vs SH group 19.1±4.4 (P=0.01). At hour two, the triglycerides in the SH group 32.0±5.9 was lower than the WB group 57.6±5.9( P=0.02), and also lower than the control group 51.7±5.9 (P=0.04). At hours four and six the triglycerides in the SH group 40.1±5.9, 4.2±5.9 was lower than the WB group 69.6±5.9, 28.3±5.9 (P=0.009, P= 0.03) respectively. The overall incremental area under the curve for serum triglycerides in the SH group 148.0±45.4 was lower than the WB group 283.1±50.1 (P=0.028). Specifically, Serum triglycerides were lower in the SH vs WB group at hours 2–4 71.9±20.1and 127.3±22.6 (P=0.05), and from hours 4–6, 44.1±19.9 vs 98.2±20.3 (P=0.02) respectively. Conclusion Consumption of shiitake mushroom powder in conjunction with a high fat meal was effective in lowering serum triglycerides when compared to supplementation with white button mushroom powder, or a high fat meal with no mushroom powder. Fortifying a high fat meal with shiitake mushrooms may be protective against the dyslipidemic impact of a typical high fat meal. Support or Funding Information Supported by a grant through the University of Buffalo's Honors College