Effects of different nutrient intakes on daytime triacylglycerolemia in healthy, normolipemic, free-living men

Background: Postprandial studies with standardized mixed meals have shown that ingestion of high-carbohydrate diets is associated with elevated plasma triacylglycerol (TG) concentrations. Objective: We evaluated the effects of different nutritional components on daytime triacylglycerolemia in 58 healthy, free-living, normolipemic men. Design: Capillary TG (TGc) was self-measured at 6 fixed time points over 3 d. Daytime TGc profiles were calculated as areas under the curve (AUCs) for absolute and incremental changes in TGc concentrations (TGc-AUC and deltaTGc-AUC, respectively). Food intake was recorded in a diary. Results: The mean (+/-SD) fasting TGc concentration, TGc-AUC, and deltaTGc-AUC were 1.20 +/- 0.41 mmol/L, 24.1 +/- 6.9 mmol(.)h/L, and 7.3 +/- 4.5 mmol(.)h/L, respectively. Mean total energy intake was 10881 +/- 2536 kJ/d. Total intakes of fat, carbohydrate, and protein were 95 +/- 25 (33% of energy), 304 +/- 69 (48% of energy), and 101 +/- 27 (16% of energy) g/d, respectively. Fasting TGc concentrations and TGc-AUC were not related to dietary intake. The mean deltaTGc-AUC was significantly related to total carbohydrate (r = 0.38, P < 0.005), protein (r = 0.29, P < 0.05), and energy (r = 0.28, P < 0.05) intakes. Fat intake (as a % of energy) was negatively associated with the mean deltaTGc-AUC (r = -0.30, P < 0.05). When the study group was subdivided into tertiles on the basis of fat intake (27.2%, 33.5%, and 39.1% of energy, respectively), carbohydrate intake was 50.9%, 48.1%, and 44.6% of energy, respectively. deltaTGc-AUC was significantly lower at the highest tertile of fat intake (4.8 +/- 4.3 mmol(.)h/L) than at the lowest (8.2 +/- 4.0 mmol(.)h/L) and intermediate (8.9 +/- 4.3 mmol(.)h/L) tertiles (P < 0.05 for each). Conclusion: deltaTGc-AUC is associated with the carbohydrate content of the diet in free-living men.