Health | Metabolic disorders, such as obesity and type 2 diabetes, are conditions that disrupt the body’s normal physiological processes.
Fortunately, to improve the diagnosis and understanding of these diseases, technologies that identify plasma metabolites that function as biomarkers for these diseases are constantly being improved and applied.
In the case of cardiometabolic disorders, the circulating or tissue phospholipid (PL) pattern has been identified and linked as a biomarker.
Also, some types of PL function as biomarkers of specific diseases. For example, lysophosphatidylcholine (LPC) is associated with obesity, insulin resistance, and type 2 diabetes, while phostatidylcholine (PC) associates only with obesity.
Now that the biomarkers of cardiometabolic diseases have been presented, we direct the focus to our objects of study: do dairy products impact the concentrations of these plasma metabolites and, consequently, the occurrence of any of the mentioned disorders?
Seeking to understand the association between dairy food consumption and cardiometabolic health, researchers systematically gathered and reviewed studies in which circulating metabolites (biomarkers) were evaluated.
According to the results presented in the review article published in the Journal of Dairy Science, postprandial circulating total PL concentrations were acutely elevated in the subjects investigated, but when intervention with the provision of dairy products in meals was performed, circulating total PL concentrations remained unchanged.
Well, this could mean that as natural sources of PL, dairy products modulate and promote a balance in the metabolic health of individuals.
Incredible, isn’t it? So, take note of this in the endless list of benefits associated with the treasures of food we have the opportunity to consume every day!
With information from: A scoping review on the impact of consumption of dairy products on phosphatidylcholine and lysophosphatidylcholine in circulation and the liver in human studies and animal models. Journal of Dairy Science, Review | v.106, n. 1, p. 24-38, 2023.
