In order to compare the hypocholesterolsemic effect of some cereals and cereal products, experiments were carried out with albino rats fed the above diet with 25% of the cereal to be studied incorporated at the expense of an equal amount of wheat starch. The products under investigation were fed to rats also in combination with whole milk powder, mixed in the same ratio as used for human consumption in the Netherlands, and incorporated in the diet at a level of 25%.Each of the diets was fed ad libitum to a group of 12 newly weaned albino rats (6 males and 6 females) for an experimental period of four weeks. Thereafter total blood-cholesterol of the individual animals was determined by the method of Carr and Drekter.1 To improve the reliability of the results the complete series of diets was tested three times in succession in the same way.The mean values for serum-cholesterol are given in table I as a percentage of the mean value of the control group.

No abstract

No abstract

1. Twelve young men were given for periods of 20 d, each of three mixed diets, namely a low-protein (LP) diet (9% total energy as protein, 67% of animal origin), a high-animal-protein (HA) diet (16% total energy as protein, 67% of animal origin) and a high-vegetable-protein (HV) diet (16% total energy as protein, 67% of vegetable origin). Retention of calcium, magnesium, iron, zinc and copper as well as various bowel function indices were investigated during each dietary period.2. Neither the HA diet nor the HV diet changed the retention of the minerals considerably. Only Fe balance decreased significantly on the HV diet.3. Substituting the HV diet for the HA diet resulted in significant increases in faecal wet weight (17 g/d), defaecation frequency (0.12 stools/d), faecal volatile fatty acids (2.6 mmol/d) and a decrease in faecal bile acids (128 pmolld).4. It is concluded that a HV diet, rather than a HA diet IS to be recommended with respect to bowel function, whereas the HV diet does not necessarily have a significani influence on mineral retention.For a number of minerals and trace elements recommended daily allowances (RDA) have been formulated. Various dietary factors are known to influence mineral or trace element availability (Rosenberg & Solomons, 1982). These influences are of importance in the evaluation of the RDA of trace elements and minerals. It is known that an increased protein intake may result in enhanced urinary calcium excretion and a negative Ca balance (Wachman & Bernstein, 1968;Hegsted et al. 1981 ;Linkswiler et al. 1981). Little information is available on the influence of protein intake on mineral balance other than Ca. The RDA for protein is slightly different in various countries. For The Netherlands the protein RDA for male adults is 65-70 g (9-10% energy total), UK recommendations amount to 63-72 g (10% total energy), and US recommendations are 56 g protein (8 total energy) (International Union of Nutrition Sciences, 1983). The actual intake mostty exceeds the RDA. In The Netherlands, protein intake often reaches values of 14-147; total energy (Van Dokkum, 1984). The effect of increasing protein intake from an RDA level to the actual intake level on mineral balance is not known. Because of the beneficial influence dietary fibre may have on bowel function, it is generally recommended to increase the dietary fibre intake in Western food patterns (Heaton, 1983). One of the ways to achieve this is to increase vegetable (protein) products and to decrease animal protein intake. This change in dietary pattern is one of the recommendations in The Netherlands (Van Dokkum, 1984). The effect of this proposed change on mineral balance has not yet been studied.In the present paper the results are presented of experiments regarding the influence on mineral utilization and bowel function when both dietary changes are brought about. M E T H O D SDetails of the experimental design are shown in Table 1. Twelve healthy male volunteers (mean age 23 (SE 2) years, weight 72 (SE 7) kg, height I .82 (SE 0...

Young male Wistar rats were fed a purified, vegetable, low-protein diet containing 6% protein from maize gluten and 2% from soy protein isolate, or comparable diets in which maize gluten was replaced partly or completely by the equivalent amount of a milk protein concentrate. Diets with adequate protein level (16% or 22%) served as a control. At 21 or 31 days of age, the rats were infected with 3000 or 100000 erythrocytes parasitized with Plasmodium berghei. Results reported include body weight, mortality, paralysis and parasitaemia. Dietary replacement of part of the maize gluten protein by milk protein increased weight gain, but aggravated the malaria, as shown by increases in parasitaemia, paralysis and mortality. The aggravating effect of milk protein was dose-dependent. With only 4% milk protein in an 8% total protein diet, the disease symptoms were nearly as severe as with diets adequate in protein level. With a vegetable-only 8% protein diet symptoms were considerably less severe.