PhD defence: Cardiometabolic effects of cheese intake
Does fat content and ripening duration matter?
Tanja Kongerslev Thorning
PhD thesis
In several countries, the dietary guidelines for preventing CVD focus on reducing the intake of saturated fat. A high cheese intake in particular may however not be associated with CVD risk, despite a high content of saturated fat. This could be due to a reduced digestibility of fat in cheese.
The aim of this PhD thesis was to investigate how the fat content of the cheese-matrix and the cheese ripening duration affect cardiometabolic risk markers and fecal fat excretion. The thesis is based on three intervention studies, two in pigs and one in humans.
The results suggested that fat content of cheese-matrix may influence the HDL-cholesterol response, while the ripening duration may affect the level of free fatty acids and insulin in the blood. Furthermore the results showed that a diet with saturated fat in cheese or meat caused a higher HDL-cholesterol, but not LDL-cholesterol, compared to a diet with a lower fat and higher carbohydrate content. The fecal fat excretion is unlikely affected by the ripening duration or fat content of the cheese-matrix, but is higher after intake of a diet with cheese compared to diets with meat or carbohydrates.
2015, 137 pages,
ISBN 978 87 7611 947 8
Time
20 November 2015, 13:00
Venue
Auditoriet A2 70 04, Thorvaldsensvej 40, 1870 Frederiksberg.
Opponents
Professor Ylva Hellsten (chair), Department of Nutrition, Exercise and Sports, University of Copenhagen, Denmark.
Associate professor Marianne Uhre Jakobsen, Department of Epidemiology, Department of Public Health, University of Aarhus, Denmark.
Professor Ian Givens, School of Agriculture, Policy and Development, University of Reading, United Kingdom.
Supervisor
Professor Anne Raben, Department of Nutrition, Exercise and Sports, University of Copenhagen, Denmark.
Co supervisor
Associate Professor Tine Tholstrup, Department of Nutrition, Exercise and Sports, University of Copenhagen, Denmark.