Changes in body composition and cardiovascular risk indicators in healthy Spanish adolescents after lamb- (Ternasco de Aragón) or chicken-basic diets.

María Isabel Mesana Graffe, Alba María Santaliestra Pasías, Jesús Fleta Zaragozano, María del Mar Campo Arribas, Carlos Sañudo Astiz, Inés Valbuena Turienzo, Pilar Martínez, Jaime Horno Delgado, Luis Alberto Moreno Aznar

To assess the effect of lamb consumption (Protected Geographical Indication (PGI), Ternasco de Aragón) on health indicators including body composition and cardiovascular risk indicators of healthy young Spanish students living in the area of Aragón, Spain. A randomized-controlled and cross-over trial (two periods of 8 weeks duration) assessing changes on body composition (body mass index and skinfold thicknesses) and cardiovascular risk indicators of 50 participants randomly assigned to follow a normocaloric diet with lamb (Ternasco de Aragón) or chicken. Body composition and serum cardiovascular risk profiles were measured both at baseline and follow-up. Healthy men (n = 22) and women (n = 28), aged 19.43 ± 0.85 years were studied. Suprailiac skinfold thickness and waist circumference significantly decreased (p < 0.05) in the lamb-consumption group compared to the chicken based diet group. No significant changes were observed in the rest of the variables in either group. Tryacilglicerol and insulin serum concentrations significantly decreased (p < 0.05) in the lamb-consumption group compared to the chicken based diet group. The results suggest that regular consumption of lamb (Ternasco de Aragón) can be integrated into a healthy, varied and well-balanced diet, as body composition and cardiovascular risk profile changes are similar or even healthier to those observed following chickenconsumption.