Effect of Simple and Complex Carbohydrates upon Total Lipids, Nonphospholipids, and Different Fractions of Phospholipids of Serum in Young Men and Women

Abstract

Eight young, healthy persons, 4 men and 4 women, were fed experimental diets for 4 dietary periods of 4 weeks each. Except for the type of carbohydrate and total protein in the second period, diets were constant in composition. Total fats, proteins, and carbohydrates constituted 40, 16 and 44% of total calories of the basic diet, respectively. The ratio of complex to simple carbohydrates was 1:4 in periods 1 and 3 and this was reversed in periods 2 and 4. Serum total lipids, nonphospholipids, and the different fractions of phospholipids (ethanolamine phosphatides, inositides, lecithins, lysolecithins, and sphingomyelins) were determined using silicic acid column chromatography. Serum total lipids, phospholipids, and nonphospholipids were found to be significantly reduced with the high cereal diet and increased with the high sugar diet when the total calories and fats were held constant for both men and women. The percentage of the ethanolamine fraction to the total phospholipids increased with the high sugar diet and decreased with the high cereal diet. The proportion of lecithins to total phospholipids showed the opposite trend. The other phospholipids showed minimal changes with dietary change. The possible importance of the changes in the phosphatides in relation to the coagulation of the blood was pointed out. An hypothesis was suggested for the mechanism for the lipid-lowering effect of complex carbohydrates in contrast with the lipemic effect of high sucrose diet.