Effects of margarine compared with those of butter on blood lipid profiles related to cardiovascular disease risk factors in normolipemic adults fed controlled diets

Abstract

Effects of butter and 2 types of margarine on blood lipid and lipoprotein concentrations were compared in a controlled diet study with 23 men and 23 women. Table spreads, added to a common basal diet, provided 8.3% of energy as fat. Diets averaged 34.6% of energy as fat and 15.5% as protein. Each diet was fed for 5 wk in a 3 x 3 Latin-square design. One margarine (TFA-M) approximated the average trans monoene content of trans fatty acid-containing margarines in the United States (17% trans fatty acids by dry wt). The other margarine (PUFA-M) was free of trans unsaturated fatty acids; it contained approximately twice the polyunsaturated fatty acid content of TFA-M (49% compared with 27% polyunsaturated fatty acids). The tub-type margarines had similar physical properties at ambient temperature. Fasting blood lipids and lipoproteins were determined in 2 samples taken from the subjects during the fifth week of each dietary treatment. Compared with butter, total cholesterol was 3.5% lower (P=0.009) after consumption of TFA-M and 5.4% lower (P< 0.001) after consumption of PUFA-M. Similarly, LDL cholesterol was 4.9% lower (P=0.005) and 6.7% lower (P< 0.001) after consumption of TFA-M and PUFA-M, respectively. Neither margarine differed from butter in its effect on HDL cholesterol or triacylglycerols. Thus, consumption of TFA-M or PUFA-M improved blood lipid profiles for the major lipoproteins associated with cardiovascular risk when compared with butter, with a greater improvement with PUFA-M than with TFA-M.

Health effects of trans-fatty acids: experimental and observational evidence

“…Lp(a) particles (consisting of LDL that includes a glycoprotein called ApoA) are also associated with increased CHD risk. TFA consumption increased Lp(a) levels in six studies (Mensink et al, 1992;Almendingen et al, 1995;Aro et al, 1997;Clevidence et al, 1997;Judd et al, 1998;Lichtenstein et al, 2003) but not significantly in one study (Muller et al, 1998a). A meta-analysis of these trials indicated that TFA significantly raises Lp(a) in comparison to SFA, MUFA, or PUFA (Mozaffarian and Clarke, 2009).…”

“…In three trials (Mensink and Katan, 1990;Zock and Katan, 1992;Aro et al 1997), partially hydrogenated high-oleic-acid sunflower oil (not often used in commercially available food products) was the main source of TFA, in which 18:1 nÀ9 (D9) elaidic acid was the most common TFA isomer. Partially hydrogenated soybean oil was used in three other trials (Almendingen et al, 1995;Muller et al, 1998a;Lichtenstein et al, 1999), and in four trials the source of TFA was not specified (Judd et al, 1994(Judd et al, , 1998(Judd et al, , 2002Lovejoy et al, 2002).…”

Lipid-lowering effects of a modified butter-fat: a controlled intervention trial in healthy men

“…A more recent cross-over trial of regular milk fat, modified (low cholesterol) milk fat and margarine (Jacques et al, 1999) showed that margarine decreased LDL-cholesterol by 12%. Wood et al (1993) showed a 5% differential in LDL-cholesterol between butter and a high trans-PUFA margarine, and in a comparison of butter and margarines with variable trans fatty acid contents, LDLcholesterol decreased by 11, 9 and 5%, respectively, when semi-liquid, soft and stick margarines were incorporated into the diet (Lichtenstein et al, 1999) and by 4.9 and 6.7% when trans and non trans margarines were compared to butter (Judd et al, 1998).…”

Quantitative effects on cardiovascular risk factors and coronary heart disease risk of replacing partially hydrogenated vegetable oils with other fats and oils

“…included 66 dietary interventions ('diets') among men and women involving a total of 518 individuals (Laine et al, 1982;Mensink and Katan, 1990;Zock and Katan, 1992;Judd et al, 1994Judd et al, , 1998Judd et al, , 2002Almendingen et al, 1995;Aro et al, 1997;Muller et al, 1998;Lichtenstein et al, 1999;de Roos et al, 2001;Lovejoy et al, 2002;Sundram et al, 2007). Overall, the mean (s.d.)…”