New Nordic Diet versus Average Danish Diet: A Randomized Controlled Trial Revealed Healthy Long-Term Effects of the New Nordic Diet by GC–MS Blood Plasma Metabolomics

Abstract

A previous study has shown effects of the New Nordic Diet (NND) to stimulate weight loss and lower systolic and diastolic blood pressure in obese Danish women and men in a randomized, controlled dietary intervention study. This work demonstrates long-term metabolic effects of the NND as compared with an Average Danish Diet (ADD) in blood plasma and reveals associations between metabolic changes and health beneficial effects of the NND including weight loss. A total of 145 individuals completed the intervention and blood samples were taken along with clinical examinations before the intervention started (week 0) and after 12 and 26 weeks. The plasma metabolome was measured using GC-MS, and the final metabolite table contained 144 variables. Significant and novel metabolic effects of the diet, resulting weight loss, gender, and intervention study season were revealed using PLS-DA and ASCA. Several metabolites reflecting specific differences in the diets, especially intake of plant foods and seafood, and in energy metabolism related to ketone bodies and gluconeogenesis formed the predominant metabolite pattern discriminating the intervention groups. Among NND subjects, higher levels of vaccenic acid and 3-hydroxybutanoic acid were related to a higher weight loss, while higher concentrations of salicylic, lactic, and N-aspartic acids and 1,5-anhydro-d-sorbitol were related to a lower weight loss. Specific gender and seasonal differences were also observed. The study strongly indicates that healthy diets high in fish, vegetables, fruit, and whole grain facilitated weight loss and improved insulin sensitivity by increasing ketosis and gluconeogenesis in the fasting state.

Biomarkers of Individual Foods, and Separation of Diets Using Untargeted LC–MS‐based Plasma Metabolomics in a Randomized Controlled Trial

“…and fatty acid metabolism (PCs and plasmalogens). Interestingly, the GC–MS and LC–MS analytical platforms provided complementary information on the dietary items and mechanisms; GC–MS detect fewer metabolites, but the better analytical precision results in almost the same number of discriminating metabolites for the two diets. These represent fish, fruit/vegetables, and whole grain similar to LC–MS, although larger number of food intake markers were observed with LC‐MS.…”

“…A better understanding of the relation between dietary patterns and metabolic profiles is crucial for improving nutritional advice, but the dietary factors contributing to the change often remain elusive . Several studies have already demonstrated that different dietary intake patterns are visible in metabolomics data . Some metabolites are also well known to reflect intakes of specific foods .…”

“…In this study, we, therefore, for the first time explore the use of plasma samples to discriminate between the NND and ADD diets by LC–MS and examine the characteristic features of each. Previously, these plasma samples have also been profiled by GC–MS demonstrating good separation of the two diets . With the new LC‐MS measurements in the present paper we cover more metabolites, aim to provide a more complete picture of the metabolome, compare the diet and metabolic markers identified to assess the apparent compliance, and discuss potential confounders of this approach.…”

Investigation of Variations in the Human Urine Metabolome amongst European Populations: An Exploratory Search for Biomarkers of People at Risk‐of‐Poverty

“…Then, ASCA was employed in order to investigate the importance of each factor in the dataset and to extract them from the global matrix. ASCA permutation test ( n = 2000) was performed to validate significance of all three main effects, country, gender, and economic status, and their two‐factor interaction terms, as described previously . Finally, PLS‐DA was carried out on the “economic status effect separated data matrix” from ASCA and validated according to Khakimov et al .…”

Anbefalt nordisk kosthold og risikomarkører for hjerte- og karsykdom

“…In the NND study, plasma metabolome analyses (measurement of all types of metabolites in plasma) that linked weight changes and improved insulin sensitivity to metabolic processes such as increased ketosis and increased gluconeogenesis were also undertaken (23).…”