The study was conducted according to the guidelines laid down in the Declaration of Helsinki. All subjects gave informed consent prior to the commencement of the study. A parallel intervention was conducted to test the effect of consuming diets enriched with red palm olein (RPOO), extra virgin coconut oil (EVCO) and extra virgin olive oil (EVOO; positive control) in centrally obese individuals over a 12-week period. Following the screening of the subjects' health status, including their biochemical and lipid profiles, the subjects completed a 12-week dietary intervention. Both fasting blood and urine samples were collected at baseline (day 0) and endpoint (week 12); measurements were taken in duplicates. All data collected were blinded to the investigators by an independent third party until the completion of the analysis. The efficacy of the blinding procedure was assessed by evaluating the compliance of participants using the visual analogue scale to the experimental diets. Statistical analysis was conducted independently by a statistician not involved in the conduct of the study.
A parallel intervention was conducted to test the effect of consuming diets enriched with red palm olein (RPOO), extra virgin coconut oil (EVCO) and extra virgin olive oil (EVOO; positive control) in centrally obese individuals over a 12-week period. Following the screening of the subjects' health status, including their biochemical and lipid profiles, the subjects completed a 12-week dietary intervention. Both fasting blood and urine samples were collected at baseline (day 0) and endpoint (week 12); measurements were taken in duplicates. All data collected were blinded to the investigators by an independent third party until the completion of the analysis.