Fig. 1. Representations of cholesterol balance (R1) and total neutral sterol balance (R2) of rats fed either the STD diet containing traditional cheeses made from whole milk or the EXP diet containing experimental cheeses made from the recombination of skim milk with milk fat and vegetable oils for 4 weeks (see Materials & Methods for details). R1 = ratio of the quantity of cholesterol excreted via the feces divided by the quantity of cholesterol ingested, R2 = ratio of the quantity of total neutral sterols excreted in feces (minus dietary phytosterols) divided by the quantity of cholesterol ingested for each rat.

*Values of the EXP group were significantly different from those of the STD group (p < 0.05).