Reduced postprandial serum triglyceride after a meal prepared using hot air frying: A randomized crossover trial

Background: Elevated circulating post–meal triglyceride concentrations or postprandial triglyceride (ppTG) is as an independent contributor to risk for coronary heart disease. Reliable ppTG reduction can be achieved by lowering the fat content of ingested meals. Objective: We hypothesized that a commonly consumed fried meal prepared by a hot air frying technique, which facilitates lower cooking oil usage, would result in lower ppTG responses than the same meal prepared by conventional deep fat frying. Design: We conducted a randomized crossover mixed meal test trial in young healthy male (n = 10) and female subjects (n = 5) in which serial blood samples (baseline, 30, 60, 90, 120, 150, 180, 240, 300, 360, 420 mins) were collected for biochemical analysis before and after administration of the meals. ppTG response was calculated as the 420 min. Incremental area under the curve for serum TG concentrations after meal ingestion. Participants and analysts were blinded to the meal type under study. Results: Subjects' habitual diets were similar before each of the meal tests. We found that hot air frying led to a 74% reduction in the total fat content of the meal which resulted in a 67% reduction in the ppTG response (0.9 mmol∙h/L, 95%CI 0.4–1.5) compared to deep fat frying (3.8 mmol∙h/L, 95%CI 2.0–5.6, P < .01). Conclusions: Hot air frying of a common meal led to lower ppTG responses in healthy subjects. Our results demonstrate that the oil reductions concomitant with hot air frying of a common meal translate into significant reductions in ppTG.