RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN HABITUAL MILK INTAKE AND SERUM-LIPIDS AND APOPROTEINS IN MALES

The relationship between habitual milk intake and levels of serum lipids and their apoproteins, serum cholesterol, and triglycerides and their apoproteins was investigated in 119 male inhabitants in a rural coastal area in Japan. Subjects were divided into three groups according to their daily milk intake, i.e., small (S) (0-60 ml/day), medium (M) (61-200 ml/day), and large intake (L) (over 200 ml/day). Among the normolipidemic subjects, the obesity index in the L group was higher than that in the S group. Total cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol, and apoB concentrations were also significantly higher in the L group than in the S and M groups. In the hypercholesterolemia group, obesity index, total cholesterol, triglyceride, and apoE tended to be higher; and apoA-I and apoB were lower in the L group than in the S group. The subjects in the L group of hypercholesterolemia tended to take in more confectionery, more fish, less vegetables, and less fungi as compared with those in the S group. As a result, the subjects with daily habitual milk intake appear to consume foods that promote obesity, such as those popular in the United States of America and Europe, especially the subjects in the hypercholesterolemia group. The quality and quantity of foods with 200 ml of daily milk intake should be selected carefully for hypercholesterolemic Japanese.