Inclusion of Limited Amounts of Extruded Legumes Plus Cereal Mixes in Normocaloric or Obesogenic Diets for Rats: Effects on Lipid Profile

Overweight and obesity are regarded as world epidemics and are major risk factors for a number of chronic diseases, including diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, and cancer. Two new highly palatable extruded mixes based on rice and pea (Pisum sativum) or kidney bean (Phaseolus vulgaris) meals were incorporated into normocaloric or obesogenic diets for rats at a low inclusion level (25%). Our purpose was to evaluate the effects of dietary incorporation of this new food ingredient on lipid profile. Organs (heart, liver, kidneys, spleen, stomach, small intestine, colon, cecum) and visceral fat relative weights were different (p < 0.01) from controls for animals fed the obesogenic diets and in rats fed extruded diets with respect to controls. Faecal excretion of bile acids was higher (p < 0.01) for rats fed extruded mixes compared with controls. The inclusion of extruded mixes replacing part of the casein in the control diet lowered liver cholesterol and triglycerides (p < 0.001) and plasma low-density lipoprotein (LDL; p < 0.01) values, although plasma high-density lipoprotein (HDL) was unaltered. Both the inclusion of extruded mixes and the use of obesogenic diets resulted in significantly (p < 0.001) different long chain fatty acid (LCFA) profiles in liver and visceral fat. Incorporating extruded legume plus cereal mixes beneficially influenced lipid metabolism, and would therefore deserve closer attention in human intervention studies, particularly with adolescents. To our knowledge, this is the first report on the nutritional and physiological effects of extruded legume plus cereal mixes.