Effects of Consumption of Coconut and Cow's Milk on the Metabolic Profile of Wistar Rats Fed a Hyperprotein Diet

The intake of milk has decreased over the past few decades in Western populations and has been replaced by drinks of plant origin. Substitution of cow's milk by vegetable drinks occurs for some reasons, such as the presence of lactose intolerance, reduced calorie intake, prevention of obesity, vegan diets, and concern about the use of hormone therapy and its possible residues in bovine milk. For these reasons, the objective of this study was to evaluate the biochemical and anthropometric profile of animals subjected to a diet supplemented with coconut milk. Animals were divided into six groups (G1-G6), treated, respectively, regular diet and coconut milk or cow's milk, and with a high-protein content diet and coconut milk or cow's milk. Our results showed that the animals treated with coconut milk reduced body weight and visceral fat, and also showed that the use of a high-protein diet in association with coconut milk is a good combination in reducing visceral fat, percentage of weight gain, food intake, cholesterol, and triglycerides. Our results do not show substantial metabolic changes when comparing the use of coconut milk with the use of cow's milk (we cannot say that the coconut milk itself can be better than cow's milk in the evaluated metabolic parameters).

Keywords: bodyweight; cholesterol; coconut milk; cow milk; hyperproteic diet; triglycerides.