Paleo Diet and Paleolithic Diet Questions & Answers

Question

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I just came across this interesting study and I'm not sure what to make of it.

In a randomized controlled trial, participants were fed either white bread or whole grain sourdough style wheat bread for 6-weeks (the whole wheat contained some other ingredients, inclduing flax and soy).

They also measured ApoE genotype (there's been some discussion of ApoE on PH before, but I don't know much about it myself).

At first no major differences were noted but "When genetic variation was considered, albeit limited by retrospective assessment, it was found that in those with the APOE E3/E3 genotype, whole grain wheat sourdough bread unfavourably increased LDL-cholesterol in NGI participants".

So people with a copy of either ApoE2 or ApoE4 didn't experience this. I guess that leaves me with 2 questions:

Why did the whole grain bread increase LDL compared to white bread?
Why was this effect only seen in people homozygous for ApoE3?

edited Jun 29 at 22:20

asked Jun 16 at 1:59

Mscott
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Different foods have different effects on various loosely correlated surrogate markers for health. Not surprising I guess and probably of very little significance. – Jay Jun 16 at 3:50

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It's of very little significance to try and determine a potentially LDL raising compound or amalgam of compounds in whole wheat bread? I disagree. – Mscott Jun 16 at 4:26

Whats the importance of LDL? Whats far worse from what ive read is the potential for triglycerides to get raised from sugar or carbs... – Jamie Jun 16 at 5:03

Raising LDL without concurrently increasing HDL (as seen in this study) causes the ratio of total:HDL cholesterol to increase. This ratio may be a crude marker of the time LDL particles spend in the blood. More time in the blood leads to more exposure to oxidants, which is important because oxidized LDL is likely a big contributer to atherosclerosis. – Mscott Jun 16 at 9:11

Doesnt it have to be small dense LDL? – Jamie Jun 16 at 15:01

show 2 more comments

Happy Now · Answer 1 · 2012-06-29 23:03:04Z UTC

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Whole grain contain more irritants, LDL is our body's equivalent of tiny bandaids. More damage would equal the need for more healing. I'm not sure why it wouldn't have an effect on ApoE 4 the same as ApoE 3, because neither of those populations were put through the selective pressure to consume as much grain as ApoE 2 which is the "natural grain eater".

answered Jun 29 at 23:03

Happy Now
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Interesting, this makes sense to me, though I hadn't heard ApoE2 was considered the natural grain eater. Thanks for your speculations. Also (on a completely random note) I noticed on your website that we went to the same college. haha. – Mscott Jun 30 at 0:19

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Go Geoducks!!!! – Happy Now Jun 30 at 0:27

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Check out Dr. G's ApoE 4 page, she's got some interesting stuff on this. drbganimalpharm.blogspot.com/2011/07/… – Happy Now Jun 30 at 0:34

Amy B. · Answer 2 · 2012-06-30 01:45:04Z UTC

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What's with all the questions on ApoE phenotypes lately? Seems like a lot are popping up.

answered Jun 30 at 1:45

Amy B.
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I'm not sure, but I find the subject intriguing. I think the ApoE alleles have important implications relating to diet which I don't think we fully understand yet. I thought this study might provide an additional piece to that puzzle. – Mscott Jun 30 at 2:09

The number of cases of Alzheimer's is on the rise, and people are scared. Seems all around me people are getting dementia, including my own family members. – Stephen Sep 3 at 21:21

Hack this study: compared to white bread, whole wheat increases LDL in ApoE3’s

2 Answers