Comparative study of two techniques for assessing fat intake in a Mediterranean diet. The influence of culinary oils changes

The diet usually consumed by a community of 18 normolipemic monks was studied. It included olive oil as cooking fat (basal period BP). This diet was modified by substituting olive oil for sunflower oil during a 21-day period (experimental period EP). The precise individual weighing technique was utilised for the determination of intake, and by means of the food composition tables (FCTs) the energy and nutrient of the diet were calculated. By chemical analysis of the duplicate sample (CA) of the cooked dishes the lipid intake was also determined. Total serum cholesterol HDL and LDL cholesterol, serum triglycerides, AI and B-100 apolipoproteins and Lp(a) were also analysed. Similarly the absolute and relative values for SFA, MUFA and PUFA obtained by both techniques were also different and these were maintained when the (PUFA + MUFA)/SFA ratio was calculated by both techniques and in the two periods. The correction of the lipid intake by means of the CA technique did not improve either the correlation between the intake or the plasma lipid concentration or the cholesterolemia prediction (r = 0.83 for FCT and CA).