2002-12-04 13:43:00
Pat Hagan

LONDON (Reuters Health) - Eating cheese made from vegetable oils rather than milk fat can reduce cholesterol levels in some people, a study from Finland shows.

After 4 weeks of eating a daily portion of vegetarian cheese, volunteers with moderately increased cholesterol saw levels drop by 5%, according to research carried out by the University of Kuopio and Oy Foodfiles Ltd, a private research body for the food industry. The research was sponsored by a producer of vegetable oils.

The cheese appears to work mainly by reducing levels of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, the "bad" cholesterol associated with increased risk of cardiovascular disease.

The results, published in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, suggest cheeses made from rapeseed oil could be a healthy alternative for those with slightly raised cholesterol levels.

Research leader Dr. Essi Sarkkinen and colleagues said in a report that rapeseed oil-based cheese might help people get their cholesterol levels down without losing out on the nutritional value of cheese in their diet.

"Our results have major practical implications," they write. "This single dietary modification has a clinically significant effect on serum, total and LDL cholesterol concentrations."

Cheese consumption in developed nations has been steadily increasing over the past 20 years. In the US, average annual consumption per head is 12.7 kilogrammes a year, while in Europe it's 17 kilos.

Although cheese provides valuable calcium, it is also high in saturated fat, which increases cholesterol levels.

Commenting on the report, Dr. Frankie Robinson of the British Nutrition Foundation said it was feasible that cutting out cheese rich in saturated fats could help lower cholesterol levels.

"By substituting it with polyunsaturated fats you might expect to see that kind of difference," said Robinson, who was not involved in the study. "But I very much doubt it contains any of the milk product that provides the calcium in cheese--there's not much calcium in rapeseed oil."

The Finnish researchers recruited 31 adults ages 25 to 65 with mild to moderately raised levels of cholesterol but no history of heart disease or other major illnesses.

All the volunteers were instructed to keep their alcohol consumption, smoking habits and medication the same throughout the study so as not to skew the findings. The same applied to their physical activity and consumption of vitamins and nutrients.

Half the group ate a daily portion of 65 grams of rapeseed-oil cheese, the other half a portion of ordinary cheese. After 4 weeks, the groups swapped over.

Laboratory tests on blood samples revealed that after 2 weeks of eating vegetarian cheese, total cholesterol levels were 6.7% lower than when they ate milk fat-based cheese. After 4 weeks, they were 5% lower.

Meanwhile, levels of LDL cholesterol in the same period were down 7% after 2 weeks and 6.4% after 4.

"Interestingly," the researchers note, "this single change in dietary habit resulted in a decline in total cholesterol concentration similar to reduction achieved by general dietary advice at population level."

SOURCE: European Journal of Clinical Nutrition 2002;56:1094-1101.

© Copyright Reuters 2002.