The Dairy Double-Whammy: Fast & Slow Dairy Protein Equally Satiating, Pastured Cream Reduces Body Fat Accumulation & Strengthen Intestinal Barrier vs. Std. Cream

Whipped cream with strawberries - is it actually healthier with pastured cream? Is it less obesogenic, soothes inflammation and increases the oxidation while reducing the storage of body fat?

I guess I could have made two separate articles of the two recent studies from the University of Lyon (Benoit. 2014) and the INRA in Paris (Marsset-Baglieri. 2014), but in view of the fact that there are already plenty of dairy articles at the SuppVersity, I thought, I'd pack them into one large "Dairy Double-Whammy Appreciation Article"; and in that I am about to start with something the average SuppVersity reader should know already: "Milk protein fractions moderately extend the duration of satiety compared with carbohydrates independently of their digestive kinetics in overweight subjects."

Well, at least the first part shouldn't be news. The fact that this happens independent of their digestive kinetics, on the other hand, may come as a surprise.

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Why? Well, "independent of their digestive kinetics", that means that the satiety effect does not depend on whether we're talking about fast- or slow-digesting dairy proteins. Or, practically speaking, it did not matter, if the subjects consumed

• 30g of casein (digested in 6h)
• 30g of whey protein (digested in 2.5h), or
• 30g of whey + casein protein (digested in 4h)

in conjunction with 30g of carbohydrates, the effect, i.e. the effects on  pancreatic and gastrointestinal hormones and the 17min increase in the time it took the subjects to ask for launch.

Figure 1: .Effects of the protein snackv. the control carbohydrate snack on the time period elapsing before the request for lunch in all subjects (n82) (a) and in early eaters (n=41) (b). The satiating effect of the protein snack is represented whatever the type of protein snack as well as in each protein group (Marsset-Baglieri. 2014).

In that, the effect on the size of a subsequent ad-libitum meal depended non-linearly on the proximity between the subjects' regular launch-time and the time the snack was ingested. With 32min (vs. only 17min), the satiating effect of  the liquid protein meal was thus significantly more pronounced in the "early eater" who could have consumed their regular lunch within less than 2h after the ingestion of the test "snack".

Dietary amino acid appearance in the plasma (Marsset-Bagliery. 2014)

Notice the significantly higher satiety effect of whey in the early eater group? I guess this is due to the fact that the peak amino acid levels after the casein meal are not achieved before the "early lunch eaters" would usually already have had their meal. So, if you intend to counter overeating at an all-you can eat buffet, you better have a whey protein 90 min before. A shake with casein protein, wouldn't be sufficiently suggested by the time you hit the buffet(see figure to the left). If you want to get the best of both "immediate" and long-term satiety, you better follow the longstanding SuppVersity advice to mix both.

Now that we know that dairy proteins can help you keep your weight in check, it's about time to have a look at the macronutrient, Marsset-Baglieri, et al. simply forgot in their previously discussed study: Dietary fats!

From dairy protein to dairy fat - this is where pasture may matter

The question whether pasture (grass-fed) dairy is healthier, better or what-not is a topic of ongoing discussion among the members of the health and fitness community. While some people believe that the slightly higher amounts of CLA and omega-3 fatty acids, doesn't make a difference, others pretend as if eating conventional dairy would cost you 10 years of your maximal life experience.

Figure 2: Effect of feeding a control (CT), a standard dairy cream (SDC) or a pasture dairy cream (PDC) diet for 12 weeks on the gene expression of different markers of inflammation in the epididymal adipose tissue: (a)IL-6, (b) Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4), (c) cluster of differentiation 68 (CD68), (d)CD11c, (e) monocyte chemoattractant protein 1 (MCP-1) and (f) TNF-alpha normalised to hypo-xanthine-guanine phosphoribosyl-transferase (HPRT; Benoit. 2014).

If we take a look at results of a recent study from the University of Lyon (Benoit. 2014), you will realize: The truth lies - as usual - somewhere in-between.

The markers of inflammation, for example, were significantly reduced in rodents who were fed a 20% pasture (PDC) vs. 20% standard dairy cream diet (SDC; see Figure 2). The levels of PPAR-alpha & carnitine palmitoyltransferase in the liver and the levels of UCP2 in the adipose tissue, all three indicative of increased fatty acid oxidation in the liver and fat cells, respectively, increased (not shown in Figure 2).

And although the effects on the tight junctions of the gut (important for "leaky gut" prevention) were non-significant, the increase in the percentage of crypts with Paneth cells, the number of goblet cells per crypt and the expression of MUC-2 in the colon indicate that the pastured dairy had beneficial effects on the intestinal health of the rodents, as well.

Overall, the scientists attest that the replacement of a standard dairy cream with a pasture
dairy cream, albeit as part of a generally unhealthy "high-fat" (=hypercaloric) diet...

• lowers metabolic inflammation - for some markers even below the levels of the "healthy" standard (low fat) rodent diet
• prevents fat mass accumulation, despite increased energy intake - possibly due to an inxrease in lipid beta-oxidation, the pasture cream fed rodents could eat 0.8g/day more of the isocaloric chow and still presented lower body fat stores
• improves the protective function of the intestine - the increase in mucus coat thickness in the colon of the PDC mice might actually also have contributed to the reduced inflammation by decreasing the proportion of lipopolysaccharide crossing from the gut lumen to the systemic circulation

Their study is yet not without limitation, such as the lack of a detailed identification of the CLA isomers, which does not allow a causal analysis of the contribution of differences in the conjugated linoleic acid make-up to the reduction in body fat Benoi et al. observed. Similarly, the amount of beta-sitosterol and desmosterol, polyphenols and flavonoids which varied between the creams, could have figured in, sa well.

Suggested Read: "Dairy - The Good, the Bad or The Ugly? Latest Studies On Heart Disease, Diabetes, Cancer, Obesity and Co. Plus: What Dairy Peptides Do For Your Heart, Gut, Brain, etc." | read more

Bottom line: While we cannot fully explain why, the results Benoit et al present in their latest study clearly support the notion that pastured dairy could be wort the extra money. Whether it's a different CLA-composition, an increase in polyphenols and flavonoids or something totally different that makes the difference, will yet have to be elucidated in future trials.

What seems to be certain, though, is that the effects pastured dairy - in this case cream - would probably have been even more pronounced if it was combined with dairy proteins. And while this may not sound like news, the fact that Marsset-Baglieri, et al.'s finding suggest that the satiety effects of dairy proteins don't depend on the absorption kinetics of the protein, i.e. that whey is not necessarily less satiating than casein is big new, I personally would still like to see confirmed in a different scenario before I will be willing to fully buy into it.

Reference:

• Benoit B, Plaisancié P, Géloën A, Estienne M, Debard C, Meugnier E, Loizon E, Daira P, Bodennec J, Cousin O, Vidal H, Laugerette F, Michalski MC. Pasture v. standard dairy cream in high-fat diet-fed mice: improved metabolic outcomes and stronger intestinal barrier. Br J Nutr. 2014 Aug;112(4):520-35.
• Marsset-Baglieri A, Fromentin G, Airinei G, Pedersen C, Léonil J, Piedcoq J, Rémond D, Benamouzig R, Tomé D, Gaudichon C. Milk protein fractions moderately extend the duration of satiety compared with carbohydrates independently of their digestive kinetics in overweight subjects. Br J Nutr. 2014 Aug;112(4):557-64.