Elsevier

The Journal of Nutrition

Volume 144, Issue 8, August 2014, Pages 1174-1180
The Journal of Nutrition

Increasing Protein Intake Modulates Lipid Metabolism in Healthy Young Men and Women Consuming a High-Fat Hypercaloric Diet1,2

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Abstract

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of increasing protein intake, at the expense of carbohydrates, on intrahepatic lipids (IHLs), circulating triglycerides (TGs), and body composition in healthy humans consuming a high-fat, hypercaloric diet. A crossover randomized trial with a parallel control group was performed. After a 2-wk run-in period, participants were assigned to either the control diet [n = 10; 27.8 energy percent (en%) fat, 16.9 en% protein, 55.3 en% carbohydrates] for 4 wk or a high-fat, hypercaloric diet (n = 17; >2 MJ/d) crossover trial with 2 periods of 2 wk, with either high-protein (HP) (37.7 en% fat, 25.7 en% protein, 36.6 en% carbohydrates) or normal-protein (NP) (39.4 en% fat, 15.4 en% protein, 45.2 en% carbohydrates) content. Measurements were performed after 2 wk of run-in (baseline), 2 wk of intervention (period 1), and 4 wk of intervention (period 2). A trend toward lower IHL and plasma TG concentrations during the HP condition compared with the NP condition was observed (IHL: 0.35 ± 0.04% vs. 0.51 ± 0.08%, P = 0.08; TG: 0.65 ± 0.03 vs. 0.77 ± 0.05 mmol/L, P = 0.07, for HP and NP, respectively). Fat mass was significantly lower (10.6 ± 1.72 vs. 10.9 ± 1.73 kg; P = 0.02) with the HP diet than with the NP diet, whereas fat-free mass was higher (55.7 ± 2.79 vs. 55.2 ± 2.80 kg; P = 0.003). This study indicated that an HP, high-fat, hypercaloric diet affects lipid metabolism. It tends to lower the IHL and circulating TG concentrations and significantly lowers fat mass and increases fat-free mass compared with an NP, high-fat, hypercaloric diet. This trail was registered at www.clinicaltrails.gov as NCT01354626.

Abbreviations

ANGPTL4
angiopoietin-like 4
CAV1
caveolin 1
CD
control diet
CD36
cluster of differentiation 36
CPT1B
carnitine palmitoyltransferase 1B
DGAT2
diacylglycerol O-acyltransferase 2
DNL
de novo lipogenesis
en%
energy percent
FABP4
FA binding protein 4
FASN
FA synthase
GLUT4
glucose-transporter type 4
HD
high-fat, hypercaloric diet
HP
high-protein
HSL
hormone-sensitive lipase
IHL
intrahepatic lipid
IRS-1
insulin receptor substrate 1
LPL
lipoprotein lipase
NP
normal-protein
PPARG
peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-γ REE, resting energy expenditure
SREBF1a
sterol regulatory element binding transcription factor 1, transcript variant 1
SREBF1c
sterol regulatory element binding transcription factor 1, transcript variant 2
Srebp1c
sterol regulatory element binding protein-1c
VO2
oxygen consumption

Cited by (0)

1

Supported by an unrestricted grant of the Dutch Dairy Association. J.S. was supported by a Marie Curie European Reintegration Grant within the 7th European Community Framework Programme.

2

Author disclosures: A. Rietman, J. Schwarz, B. A. Blokker, E. Siebelink, F. J. Kok, L. A. Afman, D. Tomé, and M. Mensink, no conflicts of interest.