Impact of Beef's Unique Food Matrix on Human Health - Cholesterol Metabolism and Voluntary Nutrient Intake in Men Consuming Low-fat and High-fat Ground Beef

Healthy, non-smoking males will be screened for eligibility, and a minimum of 30 males will be selected for the study based primarily on plasma low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) concentrations but also on plasma TAG concentrations. The men must not be consuming restrictive diets or cholesterol-lowering medications, and must not have total cholesterol above 300 mg/dL or below 120 mg/dL. Participants will be requested not to change their habitual level of physical activity. Plasma TAG should not exceed 220 mg/dL. A two-period, randomized cross-over design will be used based on previous studies from our laboratory. Each participant will complete two, 5-week ground beef interventions in a randomly assigned order with a 4-week washout period between the test periods. The men will consume 5 ground beef patties per week for 5 weeks for each ground beef type (25 patties for each type). The two treatments will be low-fat (5% fat) and high-fat (25% fat) ground beef. Participants will be assigned to one of two groups (n ≥ 15 per group), which will be balanced with regard to LDL-C concentrations at the initial screening. The groups will be blocked for age and body weight.

Visit 1 for the subjects selected for the study (immediately before the first dietary intervention) (about 1 hour):

The Registered Dietitian will provide diet instructions, sample menus and cooking instructions. Participants will receive instructions for completion of the diet records using the NutriBase software.

Participants will receive the first set of patties. Subjects will complete a 3-day diet record in NutriBase (which is done at home) before they begin eating the patties. Instructions will also be provided to subjects regarding schedule of patty consumption.

Subjects will complete a 3-day diet record in NutriBase during week 5 of the patty consumption.