THE EFFECT OF THE TYPE AND AMOUNT OF DIETARY FAT ON THE LEVEL OF PLASMA TRIGLYCERIDES IN HUMAN SUBJECTS IN THE POSTABSORPTIVE STATE

Abstract

Fifty-eight healthy university students consumed homogenized formula diets for 16 days, and plasma triglycerides were determined on samples of blood obtained from the subjects in the fasting state at days 0, 4, 8, 12, and 16. On a fat-free (high-carbohydrate) diet there was a sex difference in the response, with a group of 11 males showing a highly significant increase (over twofold) and a group of 14 females showing no significant change. No change was observed in 10 male subjects transferred from their free-choice diet to a formula diet providing 45% of calories from butterfat. However, in the case of a group of 23 men who consumed a diet similarly high in corn oil, a significant decrease occurred and the values observed were also significantly lower than those obtained on the butterfat ration. The usual responses of the plasma cholesterol to these diets were observed. Although a parallelism was observed between the behavior of the plasma triglycerides and plasma cholesterol on diets containing fat, there was a divergence on the fat-free diet, characterized by an increase in plasma triglycerides in the males and no change in the females, whereas the usual decrease in plasma cholesterol occurred in both sexes.