The effect of a salmon diet on the absorption of dietary cholesterol, plasma lipid levels, and the fecal excretion of neutral steroids and bile acids

Graduation date: 1981The influence of a diet containing salmon flesh and\ud its oil on plasma lipids, cholesterol absorption, as well\ud as fecal neutral and acidic steroid excretion was studied.\ud Two female and four male normolipidemic subjects were\ud fed diets containing approximately 40% of their caloric\ud intake from salmon oil, polyunsaturated vegetable oil\ud or saturated fat. Each diet was fed for four weeks. Venous\ud blood was drawn twice weekly for the determination\ud of plasma cholesterol and triglycerides. C¹⁴ cholesterol\ud was administered during the last week of each dietary\ud period to determine the absorption of dietary cholesterol.\ud Fecal neutral and acidic steroids were determined in feces\ud collected following the administration of the isotope.\ud Compared to the saturated fat diet, plasma cholesterol\ud was significantly lower following the salmon and linoleic\ud acid diets. The salmon diet produced significantly lower\ud plasma triglycerides than the polyunsaturated vegetable\ud oil and saturated fat diets. The absorption of cholesterol\ud and the fecal excretion of neutral and acidic steroids\ud were not significantly altered by diet