Effects of plant-based high-fiber diet on blood cholesterol profile and cardiovascular health in growing Long Evans rats

Abstract

Summary: Blood cholesterol profile is sharply affiliated with multiple cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) including CHD, RHD, arrhythmia, stroke, etc. High fiber diets are considered as a diet therapy supplementation to reduce blood cholesterol profile. The study investigated the impact of a plant-based high-fiber diet, including soup powder as a supplementary food, on reducing blood cholesterol and organ-specific fat deposition in Long Evans rats. About 60 rats with approximately 50–60 g of weight was equally (n = 10) divided into one control diet and five experimental groups. At the end of the two-phase (six-week and twelve-week feeding), half of the rats in each diet group (n = 5) were sacrificed, and the required analytical tests were performed. Treatment with high-fiber diet group F (high-fat diet 20% + high-fiber diet 80%) comparatively had the lowest TG, TC, LDL-C, and VLDL-C levels than all other diet groups in both phases. In the six-week high-fiber diet treatment, HDL-C was reduced compared to the control and high-fat diet, while after the twelve-week high-fiber (group F) diet treatment, HDL-C was significantly (P<0.05) increased compared to all other diet groups.

Keywords

• Adipose tissue
• Cholesterol profile
• CVD
• High-fiber diet
• Plant-flourished food