Burger and Beetroot Study - Lipid Oxidation Study
Condition: Oxidative Stress
Study type: Interventional

Summary: 
      Consumption of "ready meals" and other convenience foods are rapidly increasing. However,
      their nutritional value is problematical. For example, many are high in fats which are
      potentially oxidisable resulting in the formation of toxic end products. Consequently the aim
      of this study is to assess whether consumption of "ready meals" rich in certain fats leads to
      a post-prandial increase in lipid oxidation products in plasma and whether this can be
      ameliorated by reformulating the meals with natural extracts rich in phytochemicals with
      potential antioxidant activity in the stomach
    

Detailed description: 
      Many of these lipid oxidation products such as malondialdehyde are known to be genotoxic and
      potentially detrimental to health. Consequently the aim of this study is to assess whether
      consumption of "ready meals" rich in certain fats leads to a post-prandial increase in lipid
      oxidation products in plasma and whether this can be ameliorated by reformulating the meals
      with natural extracts rich in phytochemicals with potential antioxidant activity in the
      stomach.

      Diet design requirements:

      The basic "ready meal" is a turkey burger consisting of

        -  50% fat

        -  20% protein

        -  30% carbohydrate.

      However, there are four experimental forms of the burger.

        1. The fat is unsaturated (stripped corn oil)

        2. The fat is saturated (lard)

        3. The fat is unsaturated and the diet also contains a beetroot extract at a concentration
           of 10g/100g.

        4. The fat is saturated and the diet also contains a beetroot extract at a concentration of
           10g/100g.

      Beetroot (http://www.kanegrade.com/powders.htm) has been selected for the burger
      reformulation as it is a Scottish product rich in phytochemicals with potential antioxidant
      efficacy. An additional benefit may a blood pressure lowering effect. Initial taste tests
      indicate acceptable palatability.

      All other components of the burger are formulated to be as similar as possible.

      Fatty acid profiles and the "basic eight" used on food labels will be determined on the
      diets. Susceptibility of the diets to oxidise will be assessed using RANCIMAT.

      Ready Meal Intervention:

      This will be a latin square format whereby each volunteer consumes 4 treatments on separate
      occasions. This is a powerful design to assess whether incorporation of phytochemicals from
      Scottish products improves the health benefits of processed food as each volunteer acts as
      his/her own control. Volunteers will be randomly allocated to four groups

        -  Treatment A High polyunsaturated (PUFA) ready meal (ie. burger)

        -  Treatment B High saturated (SFA) fat ready meal

        -  Treatment C High PUFA ready meal incorporating food extract

        -  Treatment D High SFA ready meal incorporating food extract

      There will be a washout period of at least 7 days between each treatment.

      Volunteers:

      Healthy volunteers aged 21 to 60 years will be recruited and attend HNU having fasted from
      22.00h the previous evening on four test days. On arrival, they will be asked to provide a
      urine sample. The volunteers will then have a cannula inserted by a trained nurse and an
      initial baseline blood sample will be taken (volume 10 ml). The subjects will then be asked
      to consume the assigned breakfast within a 15 minute period. Water will be provided.
      Volunteers will then be requested to provide 10ml blood samples at 1h, 2h, 4h and 6h and 24
      hrs. A 24 hr urine sample also will be obtained, starting the day of the test day. Blood
      pressure will be recorded at each time point.

      Volunteers will not be included if they

        -  Are taking any medicines prescribed by their GP

        -  Have a known allergy to beetroot

        -  Are vegetarian or vegan

        -  Regularly take nutritional supplements

        -  Have given a large blood donation in last three months
    

Intervention name(s): Burger and Beetroot Study
Intervention type(s): Other
Intervention description(s): 50% fat, 10% beetroot extract
Intervention model: Single Group Assignment
Masking: Single (Investigator)
Primary purpose: Basic Science
Keywords: Oxidative stress; Lipid peroxides; Phytochemicals; Ready meals; Beetroot; Blood pressure