beetroot juice and postprandial vascular activity

Conditions: Dyslipidemia

Summary: increased postprandial lipemia may increase the risk for cardiovascular diseases. an important mechanistic link between lipemia following a high-fat meal and adverse cardiovascular events is lipid-mediated endothelial activation. therefore, it is important to identify nutrients that can neutralize this acute vascular disturbance. the investigators hypothesize that beetroot juice, a food rich in inorganic nitrate, could improve vascular activity during the postprandial phase.


Eligibility criteria:
inclusion criteria: * aged between 18 and 70 years * quetelet-index between 28-35 kg/m2 * mean serum triacylglycerol ≤1.7 mmol/l * no indication for treatment with cholesterol-lowering drugs according to the dutch cholesterol consensus * no current smoker * no diabetic patients or individuals receiving antidiabetic medication * no familial hypercholesterolemia * no abuse of drugs * less than 21 alcoholic consumptions per week * stable body weight (weight gain or loss \<3 kg in the past three months) * no use of medication known to affect serum lipid metabolism * no severe medical conditions that might interfere with the study, such as high blood pressure, epilepsy, asthma, allergies, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, inflammatory bowel diseases, auto inflammatory diseases and rheumatoid arthritis * no active cardiovascular disease like congestive heart failure or recent (\<6 months) event (acute myocardial infarction, cerebro vascular accident) * willingness to stop the consumption of foods rich in nitrates 3 weeks before the start of the study. vegetables such as beets, celery, radishes, turnips and spinach are rich in nitrates * willingness to give up being a blood donor (or having donated blood) from 8 weeks before the start of the study, during the study and for 4 weeks after completion of the study * no difficult venipuncture as evidenced during the screening visits exclusion criteria: * women * quetelet-index between \ 35 kg/m2 * mean serum triacylglycerol ≥1.7 mmol/l * indication for treatment with cholesterol-lowering drugs according to the dutch cholesterol consensus * current smoker * diabetic patients or individuals receiving antidiabetic medication * familial hypercholesterolemia * abuse of drugs * more than 21 alcoholic consumptions per week * unstable body weight (weight gain or loss \>3 kg in the past three months) * use of use of medication known to affect serum lipid metabolism * no severe medical conditions that might interfere with the study, such as high blood pressure, epilepsy, asthma, allergies, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, inflammatory bowel diseases, auto inflammatory diseases and rheumatoid arthritis * active cardiovascular disease like congestive heart failure or recent (\<6 months) event (acute myocardial infarction, cerebro vascular accident) * use of an investigational product within the previous 1 month * not willing to stop the consumption of foods rich in nitrates 3 weeks before the start of the study * not willing to give up being a blood donor (or having donated blood) from 8 weeks before the start of the study, during the study or for 4 weeks after completion of the study * not or difficult to venipuncture as evidenced during the screening visits

Keywords: beetroot juice nitrate vascular activity postprandial state