DIETARY CHOLESTEROL AND PLASMA CHOLESTEROL LEVELS IN MAN

Abstract

Sixty-three men and twenty women (university students) xonsumed a fat-free, homogeneous liquid formula ration for 8 days. Groups of 8 to 11 individuals were then transferred to diets in which 30% of the calories were supplied in the form of butter oil fractions which were substituted equicalorically for carbohydrate. The most volatile fraction, which was high in cholesterol (3.83%), caused a great increase in plasma cholesterol. The cholesterol-poor fractions led to relatively small increases but when supplemented with an amount of cholesterol equivalent to that provided by the cholesterol-rich fraction, increases of comparable magnitude were obtained. Supplementation of the fat-free diet with the completely saturated medium chain length triglycerides, C6-C12, derived from coconut oil with or without cholesterol, did not cause a significant increase whereas coconut oil did. These results have been interpreted as indicating that relatively small amounts of cholesterol, depending upon the nature of fat with which it is associated, can in fact effect highly significant increases in plasma cholesterol in man. It is suggested that the substance with which cholesterol reacts is a specific type of triglyceride having certain fatty acids attached at the alpha, beta, and alpha1 positions on the glycerol moiety.