Consuming Grass Finished Lamb Improves Blood Plasma ω-3 Fatty Acid Response Among Healthy Consumers.

The Effect of Consuming Grass Finished Lamb Meat on Omega-3 Blood Response Among Healthy Consumers

This study will investigate the impact of consuming grass-finished lamb meat on blood omega-3 PUFAs and cardiovascular risk factors compared to concentrate-finished lamb meat. Healthy volunteers will consume three portions of lamb meat/week from a grass-finished meat treatment or a concentrate-finished meat treatment for four weeks. Blood samples will be taken at weeks zero and four. The primary outcome is to assess difference in change in omega-3 PUFA concentration in plasma and platelets between treatment groups. The secondary outcome is to assess between groups differences in change in cardiovascular disease risk factors including blood pressure, BMI and lipids among healthy individuals.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Healthy
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: Grass fed lamb

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 34
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United Kingdom
  • Belfast, United Kingdom, BT9 5DL
    • School of Biological Sciences, Queen's University Belfast

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Healthy male and female volunteers aged between 18-64 years old.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Participants with a BMI of <18.5 km/m² and greater than >35 km/m².
• Participants who take prescribed medication, including statins to reduce LDL cholesterol, and any form of dietary supplements (excluding vitamin D).
• People who smoke.
• Participants who consume more than two portions of fish per month.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Basic Science
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: Single

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
No Intervention: Concentrate/ Cereal fed lamb; Participants to consume three portions of lamb per week for four consecutive weeks. The lamb diet was a concentrate/cereal pellet.
Experimental: Grass fed lamb; Participants to consume three portions of lamb per week for four consecutive weeks. The lamb diet was grass only.	Other: Grass fed lamb; This study investigated the impact of consuming grass finished lamb on total blood plasma and blood plasma phospholipids (PL) FA and on cardiovascular risk factors, including heart rate, blood pressure (BP), HDL-cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol, and TAG cholesterol, in humans.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Fatty acid (%) change in blood plasma between treatments	Primary outcome is to assess the impact of consuming grass vs concentrate finished lamb on blood plasma response in healthy volunteers	Week 0 and week 4
Fatty acid change (%) in blood plasma phospholipids between treatments	Primary outcome is to assess the impact of consuming grass vs concentrate finished lamb on blood plasma phospholipid response in healthy volunteers	Week 0 and week 4

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Change in weight (kg) in participants between treatments	Secondary outcome is to assess the impact of consuming grass vs concentrate finished lamb on weight among healthy volunteers	Week 0 and week 4
Change in Body Mass Index (BMI) in participants between treatments - calculated by dividing weight (kg) by height in meters squared	Secondary outcome is to assess the impact of consuming grass vs concentrate finished lamb on weight and BMI response in healthy volunteers	Week 0 and week 4
Cholesterol	Secondary outcome is to assess the impact of consuming grass vs concentrate finished lamb on total cholesterol, LDL, HDL and TAG response in healthy volunteers	Week 0 and week 4
Blood pressure (diastolic and systolic)	Secondary outcome is to assess the impact of consuming grass vs concentrate finished lamb on blood pressure (diastolic and systolic) response in healthy volunteers	Week 0 and week 4

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Queen's University, Belfast
• Collaborators: Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Jayne V Woodside, PhD, Queen's University, Belfast; Principal Investigator: Nigel D Scollan, PhD, Queen's University, Belfast

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): June 20, 2019
• Primary Completion (Actual): December 13, 2019
• Study Completion (Actual): December 13, 2019

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: September 9, 2024
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: September 18, 2024
• First Posted (Actual): September 23, 2024

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): September 24, 2024
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: September 20, 2024
• Last Verified: September 1, 2024

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Plasma; Omega-3; Fatty acids; Lamb; Plasma phospholipids
• Other Study ID Numbers: 19.08v2

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No