Inga-Britt Gustafsson

Effects of saturated and unsaturated fatty acids on estimated desaturase activities during a controlled dietary intervention

BACKGROUND AND AIMS Direct measurement of desaturase activities are difficult to obtain in humans. Consequently, surrogate measures of desaturase activity (estimated desaturase activities) have been frequently used in observational studies, and estimated Delta(9)- (or stearoyl-CoA-desaturase (SCD)), Delta(6)- and Delta(5)-desaturase activities have been associated with cardiometabolic disease. Data on how the markers of desaturase activities are modified by changes in dietary fat quality are lacking and therefore warrant examination. METHODS AND RESULTS In a two-period (three weeks) strictly controlled cross-over study, 20 subjects (six women and 14 men) consumed a diet high in saturated fat (SAT-diet) and a rapeseed oil diet (RO-diet), rich in oleic acid (OA), linoleic acid (LA) and alpha-linolenic acid (ALA). Estimated desaturase activities were calculated as precursor to product FA ratios in serum cholesteryl esters and phospholipids. The estimated SCD [16:1 n-7/16:0] and Delta(6)-desaturase [20:3 n-6/18:2 n-6] was significantly higher while Delta(5)-desaturase [20:4 n-6/20:3 n-6] was significantly lower in the SAT-diet (P<0.001 for all), compared to the RO-diet. The serum proportions of palmitic, stearic, palmitoleic and dihomo-gamma-linolenic acids were significantly higher in the SAT-diet while the proportions of LA and ALA were significantly higher in the RO-diet. CONCLUSION This is the first study to demonstrate that surrogate measures of desaturase activities change as a consequence of an alteration in dietary fat quality. Both the [16:1/16:0]-ratio and 16:1 seem to reflect changes in saturated fat intake and may be useful markers of saturated fat intake in Western countries.

Mediterranean and carbohydrate-restricted diets and mortality among elderly men: a cohort study in Sweden

BACKGROUND Comparative studies on dietary patterns and long-term mortality are sparse. OBJECTIVE The objective was to examine the relations between 10-y mortality and adherence to the World Health Organization dietary guidelines [Healthy Diet Indicator (HDI)], a Mediterranean-like diet, and a carbohydrate-restricted (CR) diet in elderly Swedish men. DESIGN Dietary habits were determined by 7-d dietary records in a population-based longitudinal study of 924 Swedish men (age: 71 ± 1 y). The HDI score (-1 to 8 points), the Mediterranean Diet Score (MDS; 0-8 points), and the CR score (2-20 points) were calculated for each participant. Nonadequate reporters of energy intake were identified (n = 413). Mortality was registered during a median follow-up of 10.2 y. Cox proportional hazards regression, with multivariable adjustments, was used to determine the effects of adherence to each dietary pattern. RESULTS Two hundred fifteen and 88 subjects died of all-cause and cardiovascular disease, respectively. In all individuals, risk relations to mortality for each SD increment in the scores were observed for only MDS, with an adjusted hazard ratio (HR) of 0.83 (95% CI: 0.70, 0.99). Among adequate dietary reporters (n = 511), adjusted HRs for each SD increment in scores were enhanced for MDS (ie, 0.71; 95% CI: 0.55, 0.92) for all-cause mortality and 0.63 (95% CI: 0.42, 0.96) for cardiovascular mortality. Corresponding HRs for CR diet score were 1.19 (95% CI: 0.97, 1.45) for all-cause mortality and 1.44 (95% CI: 1.03, 2.02) for cardiovascular mortality. CONCLUSION Adherence to a Mediterranean-like dietary pattern reduced mortality, whereas adherence to a CR dietary pattern appeared to increase mortality in elderly Swedish men, especially when only adequate dietary reporters were considered.

Comparison between optical readable and open-ended weighed food records

Background A simplified optically readable food record (ORFR) was developed and compared with an open-ended weighed record (WR). Objective To compare intake of nutrients and foods using a seven-day ORFR with intake estimated using a seven-day WR. The results from each method were validated against 24-h urinary nitrogen excretion and energy intake (EI)/estimated basal metabolic rate (BMR) cut-off values. Design The study comprised 73 free-living, healthy 70-year-old Swedish men. Dietary data were collected during seven consecutive days, starting either with WR or ORFR. Results Average intakes of energy and several nutrients were significantly lower when estimated using ORFR than when using WR. However, when adjusted for nutrient density, only a few nutrients were still lower with ORFR. Spearman correlation coefficients between the two methods regarding intakes of energy and energy-yielding nutrients were moderate to high, i.e. 0.4–0.6, while figures for most micro-nutrients were in the range 0.3–0.5. A large proportion of subjects under-reported their EIs, a higher proportion doing so when using ORFR. Protein intake obtained using ORFR was 31% lower than the values calculated from the 24-h urine nitrogen excretion, and 22% lower than those obtained from WR. Average intakes of milk, cheese and other milk products as well as coffee, tea and alcohol were significantly higher when estimated using ORFR than when using WR, while intakes of vegetables, meat and meat products, fish, bread and cereal products as well as number of sweet foods were significantly lower with ORFR. Conclusions Based on these results, adjustments of some portion sizes in ORFR are suggested. In view of the advantages of ORFR with respect to lower response burden and rapid processing of data, such adjustments would make ORFR a suitable dietary assessment tool for use in dietary surveys, including larger resource-demanding epidemiological investigations.

Replacing dairy fat with rapeseed oil causes rapid improvement of hyperlipidaemia: a randomized controlled study.

Abstract.  Iggman D, Gustafsson I‐B, Berglund L, Vessby B, Marckmann P, Risérus U (Clinical Nutrition and Metabolism, Uppsala University, Uppsala; Center for Clinical Research Dalarna, Falun; Örebro University, Grythyttan, Sweden; Odense University Hospital and Institute of Clinical Research, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark). Replacing dairy fat with rapeseed oil causes rapid improvement of hyperlipidaemia: a randomized controlled study. J Intern Med 2011; 270: 356–364.

Indices of fatty acid desaturase activity in healthy human subjects : effects of different types of dietary fat

Δ9-Desaturase (stearoyl-CoA desaturase 1, SCD-1) regulates the desaturation of SFA, mainly stearic and palmitic, to MUFA. Δ6-Desaturase (D6D) and Δ5-desaturase (D5D) are involved in the metabolism of linoleic and α-linolenic acid to polyunsaturated metabolites. The objective of the present study was to study the effects of different types of dietary fat on indices of fatty acid desaturase (FADS) activity (evaluated as product:precursor ratios) in plasma and skeletal muscle in human subjects. A high SCD-1 index has been related to obesity and metabolic disorders, while the D5D index is associated with insulin sensitivity. Fatty acid composition of serum and skeletal muscle lipids was analysed by GLC during a randomised, controlled, 3-month dietary intervention in healthy subjects. A comparison of the effects of a diet containing butter fat (SFA, n 17) with a diet containing monounsaturated fat (MUFA, n 17), keeping all other dietary components constant, showed a reduced SCD-1 activity index by 20% on the MUFA diet compared with the SFA diet assessed in serum cholesteryl esters. The D6D and D5D indices remained unaffected. Supplementation with long-chain n-3 fatty acids reduced the SCD-1 index by a similar magnitude while the D6D index decreased and the D5D index increased. It is concluded that changes in the type of fat in the diet affect the indices of FADS activity in serum and skeletal muscle in human subjects. The desaturase activity indices estimated from the serum lipid ester composition are significantly related to corresponding indices studied in skeletal muscle phospholipids.

Sensory description labels for food affect consumer product choice

Purpose - This observational study set out to investigate the effect of sensory description labels on consumer choice of apples in a grocery retail store.Design/methodology/approach - An independen ...

Phosphorus limitation effects on the fatty acid content and nutritional quality of a green alga and a diatom

Phosphorus limitation effects on the fatty acid content and nutritional quality of a green alga and a diatom

Similar serum lipoprotein reductions by lipid-lowering diets with different polyunsaturated:saturated fat values.

Lipid-lowering diets enriched in polyunsaturated fat decrease the serum cholesterol in hyperlipoproteinaemia, usually by reducing both the low-density-lipoprotein (LDL) and high-density-lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol concentrations. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether the effects on LDL could be maintained but those on HDL cholesterol be diminished by reducing the ratio, polyunsaturated:saturated fat (P:S) of the diet. Twenty hyperlipoproteinaemic patients (six with type IIa, eight with type IIb and six with type IV) in a metabolic ward were given two fat-modified diets during two consecutive 3-week periods in a randomized order. The diets were identical with regard to nutrient composition but differed with regard to the P:S values, which were 2.0 and 1.3 respectively. The lipoprotein-lipid composition and serum apolipoprotein concentrations were similar at the end of the two dietary periods in type IIa and type IV patients but in type IIb patients a more pronounced reduction of the LDL-cholesterol concentration by 9% (P less than 0.05) was achieved on the diet with the higher P:S value. The HDL-cholesterol did not differ significantly. The results indicate that increasing the P:S value of lipid-lowering diets from 1.3 to 2.0 does not offer a great advantage with regard to the lipoprotein-lipid reductions achieved in moderate hyperlipoproteinaemia.

The lipid composition of the haemolymph and hepatopancreas of the scorpion (Buthus quinquestriatus)

Abstract 1. 1. The haemolymph lipids were mainly associated with the high density lipoproteins (HDL). The major content of these HDL was phospholipids. 2. 2. The predominating fatty acids in the haemolymph were oleic, palmitic and linoleic acids. 3. 3. The amounts of triglycerides and cholesterol in the hepatopancreas were 0.3 and 0.003 g/g tissue, respectively. 4. 4. After thin-layer chromatography, spots with mobility corresponding to cholesterol esters, triglycerides, free fatty acids, partial glycerides and phospholipids were observed in the lipid extract of the hepatopancreas. 5. 5. The major fatty acids in the hepatopancreas were oleic, linoleic and palmitic acids.

Culinary arts and meal science as an interdisciplinary university curriculum

Abstract The philosophical stance adopted in the Culinary Arts and Meal Science (CAMS) education at the Department of Restaurant and Culinary Arts at Orebro University is outlined. This is an interdisciplinary approach, based on the Aristotelian tradition of episteme, techne and phronesis knowledge forms and operationalised through the FAMM (Five Aspects Meal Model) model, bearing in mind the overall biopsychosocial nature of each individual experience. CAMS has moved forward using FAMM as the basis for dealing with the complex, multifaceted nature of producing and studying the meal.