Snack chips fried in corn oil alleviate cardiovascular disease risk factors when substituted for low-fat or high-fat snacks.

BACKGROUND The perception that all high-fat snacks are unhealthy may be wrong. OBJECTIVE We aimed to assess whether replacing low-fat and high-fat snacks with snacks rich in polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) and low in saturated and trans fatty acids would improve cardiovascular health. DESIGN Thirty-three adults participated in a randomized crossover trial of 3 controlled feeding phases of 25 d each in which a different type of snack was provided: low-fat (30.8% of energy from fat, 5.2% of energy from PUFAs), high-PUFA (36.3% of energy from fat, 9.7% of energy from PUFAs), or high-fat (37.9% of energy from fat, 5.8% of energy from PUFAs) snack. RESULTS Each diet reduced LDL- and total cholesterol concentrations, but reductions were greater with the low-fat and the high-PUFA diets than with the high-fat diet: LDL cholesterol (11.8% and 12.5% compared with 8.8%, respectively; P = 0.03 and 0.01), total cholesterol (10.5% and 10.7% compared with 7.9%, respectively; P = 0.03 and 0.02). The high-PUFA diet tended to reduce triacylglycerol concentrations (9.4%; P = 0.06), and this change was greater than that with the low-fat (P = 0.028) and high-fat (P = 0.0008) diets. CONCLUSIONS These data show that snack type affects cardiovascular health. Consuming snack chips rich in PUFA and low in saturated or trans fatty acids instead of high-saturated fatty acid and trans fatty acid or low-fat snacks leads to improvements in lipid profiles concordant with reductions in cardiovascular disease risk.

[1]  C. Graaf.  Effects of snacks on energy intake: An evolutionary perspective , 2006, Appetite.

[2]  B. Fernhall,et al.  Effects of lifestyle modifications on C-reactive protein: contribution of weight loss and improved aerobic capacity. , 2006, Metabolism: clinical and experimental.

[3]  S. Davis,et al.  Effects of a carbohydrate-restricted diet on emerging plasma markers for cardiovascular disease , 2006, Nutrition & metabolism.

[4]  R. Krauss,et al.  Separate effects of reduced carbohydrate intake and weight loss on atherogenic dyslipidemia. , 2006, The American journal of clinical nutrition.

[5]  N. Bergeron,et al.  Baseline plasma C-reactive protein concentrations influence lipid and lipoprotein responses to low-fat and high monounsaturated fatty acid diets in healthy men. , 2006, The Journal of nutrition.

[6]  J. Purnell,et al.  Plasma C-reactive protein concentration is not affected by isocaloric dietary fat reduction. , 2006, Nutrition.

[7]  U. Singh,et al.  Responses of inflammatory markers to a low-fat, high-carbohydrate diet: effects of energy intake. , 2006, The American journal of clinical nutrition.

[8]  H Pakkala,et al.  Snacks as an element of energy intake and food consumption , 2006, European Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

[9]  J. Manson,et al.  Low-fat dietary pattern and risk of cardiovascular disease: the Women's Health Initiative Randomized Controlled Dietary Modification Trial. , 2006, JAMA.

[10]  W. Poston,et al.  Weight loss with meal replacement and meal replacement plus snacks: a randomized trial , 2005, International Journal of Obesity.

[11]  P. Kris-Etherton,et al.  Balance of unsaturated fatty acids is important to a cholesterol-lowering diet: comparison of mid-oleic sunflower oil and olive oil on cardiovascular disease risk factors. , 2005, Journal of the American Dietetic Association.

[12]  Neil Skolnik,et al.  Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2005 , 2005 .

[13]  L. Sjöström,et al.  Snacking frequency in relation to energy intake and food choices in obese men and women compared to a reference population , 2005, International Journal of Obesity.

[14]  G. Colditz,et al.  Snack food intake does not predict weight change among children and adolescents , 2004, International Journal of Obesity.

[15]  Lawrence A Leiter,et al.  Combined effects of a dietary portfolio of plant sterols, vegetable protein, viscous fibre and almonds on LDL particle size , 2004, British Journal of Nutrition.

[16]  P. Pérez-Martínez,et al.  The effect of dietary fat on LDL size is influenced by apolipoprotein E genotype in healthy subjects. , 2004, The Journal of nutrition.

[17]  R. Marfella,et al.  Effect of a mediterranean-style diet on endothelial dysfunction and markers of vascular inflammation in the metabolic syndrome: a randomized trial. , 2004, JAMA.

[18]  S. Lemieux,et al.  Effect of a nutritional intervention promoting the Mediterranean food pattern on electrophoretic characteristics of low-density lipoprotein particles in healthy women from the Québec City metropolitan area , 2004, British Journal of Nutrition.

[19]  M. Taskinen,et al.  Effects of a Mediterranean-inspired diet on blood lipids, vascular function and oxidative stress in healthy subjects. , 2004, Clinical science.

[20]  D. Pendergast,et al.  Effect of Low and High Fat Diets on Nutrient Intakes and Selected Cardiovascular Risk Factors in Sedentary Men and Women , 2004, Journal of the American College of Nutrition.

[21]  W. Kraemer,et al.  Very low-carbohydrate and low-fat diets affect fasting lipids and postprandial lipemia differently in overweight men. , 2004, The Journal of nutrition.

[22]  J. Witztum,et al.  Changes in Dietary Fat Intake Alter Plasma Levels of Oxidized Low-Density Lipoprotein and Lipoprotein(a) , 2004, Arteriosclerosis, thrombosis, and vascular biology.

[23]  A. Lichtenstein,et al.  Influence of hydrogenated fat and butter on CVD risk factors: remnant-like particles, glucose and insulin, blood pressure and C-reactive protein. , 2003, Atherosclerosis.

[24]  A. Lichtenstein,et al.  Effect of different forms of dietary hydrogenated fats on LDL particle size. , 2003, The American journal of clinical nutrition.

[25]  Lawrence A Leiter,et al.  Effects of a dietary portfolio of cholesterol-lowering foods vs lovastatin on serum lipids and C-reactive protein. , 2003, JAMA.

[26]  R. Mensink,et al.  Effects of dietary fatty acids and carbohydrates on the ratio of serum total to HDL cholesterol and on serum lipids and apolipoproteins: a meta-analysis of 60 controlled trials. , 2003, The American journal of clinical nutrition.

[27]  C. A. Taylor,et al.  Snacking patterns influence energy and nutrient intakes but not body mass index. , 2003, Journal of human nutrition and dietetics : the official journal of the British Dietetic Association.

[28]  F. Sacks,et al.  Randomized clinical trials on the effects of dietary fat and carbohydrate on plasma lipoproteins and cardiovascular disease. , 2002, The American journal of medicine.

[29]  J. Mckenney,et al.  National Cholesterol Education Program Expert Panel on Detection, Evaluation, and Treatment of High Blood Cholesterol in Adults (Adult Treatment Panel III) , 2002 .

[30]  P. Kris-Etherton,et al.  Dietary fat: assessing the evidence in support of a moderate-fat diet; the benchmark based on lipoprotein metabolism , 2002, Proceedings of the Nutrition Society.

[31]  B. Popkin,et al.  Trends in energy intake in U.S. between 1977 and 1996: similar shifts seen across age groups. , 2002, Obesity research.

[32]  A. von Eckardstein,et al.  Dietary mono- and polyunsaturated fatty acids similarly affect LDL size in healthy men and women. , 2002, The Journal of nutrition.

[33]  M. Beylot,et al.  Effects of isoenergetic high-carbohydrate compared with high-fat diets on human cholesterol synthesis and expression of key regulatory genes of cholesterol metabolism. , 2001, The American journal of clinical nutrition.

[34]  J. Danesh,et al.  Lipoprotein(a) and Coronary Heart Disease: Meta-Analysis of Prospective Studies , 2000, Circulation.

[35]  I. Ockene,et al.  Dietary fat intake and the risk of coronary heart disease in women. , 1998, The New England journal of medicine.

[36]  P. Kris-Etherton,et al.  Effects of reducing dietary saturated fatty acids on plasma lipids and lipoproteins in healthy subjects: the DELTA Study, protocol 1. , 1998, Arteriosclerosis, thrombosis, and vascular biology.

[37]  Jana Jurečková,et al.  Robust Statistical Procedures, Asymptotics and Interrelations. , 1997 .

[38]  K. O'dea,et al.  A low-fat diet supplemented with monounsaturated fat results in less HDL-C lowering than a very-low-fat diet. , 1997, Journal of the American Dietetic Association.

[39]  L. Toothaker.  Multiple Comparisons for Researchers , 1991 .

[40]  A. Gotto,et al.  Influence of short term dietary cholesterol and fat on human plasma Lp[a] and LDL levels. , 1991, Journal of lipid research.

[41]  C. de Graaf.  Effects of snacks on energy intake: an evolutionary perspective. , 2006, Appetite.

[42]  K. Kostner,et al.  Therapy of hyper-Lp(a). , 2005, Handbook of experimental pharmacology.

[43]  J. Segrest,et al.  Quantification of cholesterol in all lipoprotein classes by the VAP-II method. , 1994, Journal of lipid research.