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THE INFLUENCE OF A DAILY NUTRITION SUPPLEMENT ON BLOOD TRIGLYCERIDES AND CHOLESTEROL IN HEALTHY ADULTS

Abstract

High triglycerides and cholesterol levels in the blood are often the first warning sign of an increased risk for heart disease and stroke. It is recommended by the American Heart Association that triglyceride (TG) levels be kept ≤100 mg/dL, while total cholesterol (TC) levels should be ≤200 mg/dL. In populations at greater risk for heart disease these guidelines are especially important. The easiest way to address high TC and TG levels in the blood is through nutritional interventions. PURPOSE: The primary purpose of this study was to evaluate whether the regular consumption of a nutrition supplement, which contains a proprietary blend of vitamins and minerals designed to decrease the TG and TC in the blood, would influence fasting blood lipid measures in healthy adults. METHODS: 47 college students were recruited and randomly assigned to either the Treatment (n=24; 13 women: (MeanSD) 224 yrs., 23.71.8 kg/; 11 men: 22 3 yrs., 25.74.7 kg/) or Control groups (n=23) 10 women: 202 yrs., 23.52.8 kg/; 13 men: 22 3 yrs., 25.14.2 kg/). Both groups consumed 6 capsules per day (2 capsules 3 times daily) during the 8-week double blind, placebo controlled testing phase, which included 5 lab visits (baseline + every two weeks thereafter). During each lab visit, body mass was measured along with fasting fingertip blood samples collected and measured for TC, low density lipoproteins (LDL), high density lipoproteins (HDL), TG, and blood glucose (BG). Data were analyzed using a two-factor (Group x Time) RMANOVA and Sheffe’s post-hoc (0.05 alpha). RESULTS: Measures of TC (Mean182.05.6 to 160.5 5.2 mg/dL) and LDL (103.84.1 to 81.83.3 mg/dL) decreased significantly (P<0.05) for the Treatment group with no changes for the Control group. There was a non-significant decrease in TG for the Treatment group, while the Control group significantly increased (81.26.1 to 103.29.4 mg/dL; P>0.05). Lastly, there was a significant decrease in body mass for the Treatment group (76.23.6 to 72.32.7 kg; P<0.05), while the Control group experienced no changes. CONCLUSIONS: Collectively, these results indicate that resting blood triglycerides and cholesterol levels in young healthy adults benefited from daily consumption of the supplement. The Treatment group’s decrease in body mass may reflect a secondary effect to increase daily physical activity energy expenditure. Therefore, this supplement could be an effective non-prescription preventative treatment for populations at greater risk for heart disease.

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