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The effect of conjugated linoleic acid, a natural trans fat from milk and meat, on human blood pressure: results from a randomized crossover feeding study

Journal of Human Hypertension volume 26, pages 127–132 (2012)Cite this article

Abstract

Cis-9, trans-11 conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) is a natural trans fatty acid that is largely restricted to ruminant fats and consumed in foods and supplements. Its role in blood pressure (BP) regulation is still unclear. We examined the effect of cis-9, trans-11 CLA on BP compared with oleic acid. A total of 61 healthy volunteers were sequentially fed each of 3 diets for 3 weeks, in random order, for a total of 9 weeks. The diets were identical except for 7% of energy (18.9 g in a diet of 10 MJ day–1) that was provided either by oleic acid, by industrial trans fatty acids or by cis-9, trans-11 CLA. We measured BP on two separate days at the end of each intervention period. At baseline, mean BP was 113.8±14.4 mm Hg systolic and 66.3±9.6 mm Hg diastolic. The effect of the CLA diet compared with the oleic acid diet was 0.11 mm Hg (95% confidence interval: −1.27, 1.49) systolic and −0.45 mm Hg (−1.63, 0.73) diastolic. After the industrial trans fatty acid diet, the effect was 1.13 mm Hg (−0.25, 2.51) systolic and −0.44 mm Hg (−1.62, 0.73) diastolic compared with the oleic acid diet. Our study suggests that short-term high intakes of cis-9,trans-11 CLA do not affect BP in healthy volunteers.

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Acknowledgements

We are indebted to our dieticians for their assistance during the trial; to all subjects for their enthusiastic participation; to the late Truus Kosmeijer-Schuil for analysis of the fatty acids; and to Dr Eckhard Flöter, Unilever R&D, for technical advice and for delivering the margarine hard stock. This study was supported by the Netherlands Heart Foundation (Grant no. 2006B176), the Foundation of Nutrition and Health Research and the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences. The Conjugated Linoleic Acid oil was sponsored by Lipid Nutrition, and the margarine hard stock was sponsored by Unilever Research and Development. The funders had no role in the study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish or preparation of the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Human Nutrition, Wageningen University, Wageningen, The Netherlands

    M F Engberink, J M Geleijnse, A J Wanders & I A Brouwer

  2. Department of Health Sciences and the EMGO Institute for Health Care Research, VU University Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    A J Wanders & I A Brouwer

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  1. M F Engberink
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  2. J M Geleijnse
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  3. A J Wanders
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  4. I A Brouwer
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Correspondence to I A Brouwer.

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Engberink, M., Geleijnse, J., Wanders, A. et al. The effect of conjugated linoleic acid, a natural trans fat from milk and meat, on human blood pressure: results from a randomized crossover feeding study. J Hum Hypertens 26, 127–132 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/jhh.2010.132

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