Milk minerals modify the effect of fat intake on serum lipid profile: results from an animal and a human short-term study.

Despite a high content of saturated fat, evidence from observational studies indicates that the consumption of dairy products may have a neutral effect or may be inversely associated with the risk of CVD. We aimed to examine whether milk minerals modify the effect of saturated fat on serum lipid profile. We present data from two studies. Study I had a randomised, blinded, parallel design (n 24 pigs) with a 10 d adaptation period during which a high-fat diet was fed to the pigs and a 14 d intervention period during which the same diet either enriched with milk minerals (MM group) or placebo (control group) was fed to the pigs. Study II had a randomised cross-over design (n 9 men) where the subjects were fed either a high-fat diet enriched with milk minerals (MM period) or a regular diet (control period). In both the studies, blood variables were measured before and after the intervention and faecal and urine samples were collected at the end of the dietary periods. The increase in plasma total cholesterol and LDL-cholesterol concentrations but not in HDL-cholesterol concentration was markedly lowered by milk minerals in both the studies. In the animal study, baseline adjusted total cholesterol and LDL-cholesterol concentrations in the MM group were 11% (P = 0.004) and 13% (P = 0.03) lower compared with those in the control group after the intervention. Similarly in the human study, baseline adjusted total cholesterol and LDL-cholesterol concentrations were 6% (P = 0.002) and 9% (P = 0.03) lower after the MM period compared with those in the control period. HDL-cholesterol concentration was not lowered by milk minerals. These short-term studies indicate that the addition of milk minerals to a high-fat diet to some extent attenuates the increase in total cholesterol and LDL-cholesterol concentrations, without affecting HDL-cholesterol concentration.