title: Reduced-fat Gouda-type cheese enriched with vitamin D3effectively prevents vitamin D deficiency during winter months in postmenopausal women in Greece.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The primary aim of the present study was to examine the effectiveness of daily consumption of vitamin D3-enriched, reduced-fat Gouda-type cheese on 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) concentration in postmenopausal women. Health-related quality of life (HRQL) indices were examined as secondary outcomes.
  
  
  METHODS
  This is a single-blinded (i.e., to study participants), randomized, controlled food-based dietary intervention study.
  
  
  METHODS
  A sample of 79 postmenopausal women (55-75 years old) was randomized either to a control group (CG: n = 39) or an intervention group (IG: n = 40) that consumed, as part of their usual diet, 60 g of either non-enriched or vitamin D3enriched Gouda-type cheese, respectively, for eight consecutive weeks (i.e., from January to March 2015). Sixty grams of enriched cheese provided a daily dose of 5.7 μg of vitamin D3.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There was a differential response of mean (95 % CI) serum 25(OH)D levels in the IG and CG, with the former increasing and the latter decreasing significantly over the eight weeks of the trial [i.e., by 5.1 (3.4, 6.9) nmol/L vs. -4.6 (-6.4, -2.8) nmol/L, P < 0.001, respectively]. The percentages of study participants with 25(OH)D levels <30 (deficiency) and <50 nmol/L (insufficiency) were significantly higher at follow-up in the CG compared to the IG (41.0 vs. 0 %, P < 0.001 and 74.4 vs. 47.5 %, P < 0.001, respectively). The emotional well-being scale of the HRQL score increased in the IG compared to a decrease in the CG (3.2 vs. -3.8, P = 0.028). However, none of the other seven scales of the HRQL score significantly differentiated between study groups (P > 0.1).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Consumption of 60 g of vitamin D3-enriched, reduced-fat Gouda-type cheese provided a daily dose of 5.7 μg of additional vitamin D3and was effective in increasing mean serum 25(OH)D concentration and in counteracting vitamin D deficiency during winter months in postmenopausal women in Greece.
authors.affiliation: Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, School of Health Science and Education, Harokopio University, 70 El Venizelou Avenue, Kallithea, 17671, Athens, Greece. manios@hua.gr.
authors.forename: Yannis
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Manios
authors.affiliation: Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, School of Health Science and Education, Harokopio University, 70 El Venizelou Avenue, Kallithea, 17671, Athens, Greece.|EnviNHealth S.A., Platonos 34, Moschato, 18345, Athens, Greece.
authors.forename: George
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Moschonis
authors.affiliation: Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, School of Health Science and Education, Harokopio University, 70 El Venizelou Avenue, Kallithea, 17671, Athens, Greece.
authors.forename: Christina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Mavrogianni
authors.affiliation: FrieslandCampina, Stationsplein 4, Post Box 1551, 3800 BN, Amersfoort, the Netherlands.
authors.forename: Eghm
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: van den Heuvel
authors.affiliation: FrieslandCampina, Stationsplein 4, Post Box 1551, 3800 BN, Amersfoort, the Netherlands.
authors.forename: Cécile M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Singh-Povel
authors.affiliation: Cork Centre for Vitamin D and Nutrition Research, School of Food and Nutritional Sciences, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland.|The Irish Centre for Fetal and Neonatal Translational Research (INFANT), University College Cork, Cork, Ireland.
authors.forename: Mairead
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kiely
authors.affiliation: Cork Centre for Vitamin D and Nutrition Research, School of Food and Nutritional Sciences, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland.|Department of Medicine, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland.
authors.forename: Kevin D
authors.initials: KD
authors.lastname: Cashman
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D002611:Cheese; D002762:Cholecalciferol / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D004032:Diet; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D005527:Food, Fortified; D006115:Greece; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D017698:Postmenopause / Q000097:blood*; D011788:Quality of Life; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012621:Seasons; D016037:Single-Blind Method; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014808:Vitamin D Deficiency / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000517:prevention & control*
chemical_list: D002762:Cholecalciferol
keywords: 25-Hydroxyvitamin D; Cheese; Enriched dairy; Postmenopausal women; Vitamin D