Comparative Effects of 2 Diets in Veterans With the Metabolic Syndrome

The purpose of the study is to examine the effects of 2 commonly used diets, a Mediterranean monounsaturated fatty acid enriched (MUFA) or AHA polyunsaturated (PUFA) enriched diet combined with the VA Managing Overweight/Obesity for Veterans Everywhere (MOVE!) program so as to determine which one is superior in reducing cardiometabolic risk factors associated with Metabolic Syndrome. The risk factors considered include lipids and lipoproteins, inflammatory markers such as CRP and adiponectin, endothelium-dependent flow-mediated vasodilatation (FMD) and the postprandial lipid responses to a meal. Cardiometabolic risk factors will be determined by measuring several cardiovascular risk associated parameters including: Biochemical measurements of lipids and inflammatory markers, body composition and VO2max (Specific Objective 1, Descriptive). Postprandial response to a meal challenge and endothelial vasoreactivity (FMD) assessed by BART (Specific Objective 2, Physiological). Determination of the effects on postheparin lipases and transfer protein activity, visceral adipose tissue (VAT) and homeostasis model assessment-estimated insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) (Specific Objective 3, Mechanistic)