Abstract
Samandrag - Abstract
The metabolic syndrome (MetS) includes a variety of metabolic abnormalities, such as: insulin resistance; glucose intolerance; altered lipid-profile (hypertriglyceridemia and decreased HDL), hypertension and abdominal obesity. MetS is strongly connected to increased risk of cardiovascular disease and development of type 2 diabetes, and the prevalence is increasing as the overweight epidemic plays an important role. To deal with this challenge it is essential to gain more knowledge about the pathogenesis and optimal treatment of MetS.
The present papers task is to look into the meal related metabolic effects in Caucasians with MetS, of altering the type and amount of fat and carbohydrate in the diet.
The study has four diet groups: high saturated fat (SAFA), high monounsaturated fat (MUFA) and low fat with and without omega-3 supplementation. After 6 weeks of diet intervention the meal related effect was measured by analysing important parameters (blood glucose, insulin, C-peptide and fasting lipids) before and during a standardized meal. Significant differences between the diet groups are found in this paper. The metabolism of carbohydrate and lipid is less optimal in the high SAFA diet. The data indicate that persons with MetS have positive effects on their metabolism when replacing SAFA with MUFA and/or PUFA. It is not possible to conclude which of the latter diets to recommend. The results can also lead to speculations that omega-3-fatty acids have a positive effect in a low fat diet. The findings of this study are in accordance with prior studies on dietary fat in healthy individuals.