Polyunsaturated Versus Saturated Fat: Which Is Better For Cholesterol?

Rapid weight gain from polyunsaturated fat consumption yielded lower levels of bad cholesterol in the blood compared with saturated fat consumption, according to a recent study,

“Even in early adulthood, it is important to avoid high-calorie foods and weight gain, but also it is important to consume sufficient amounts of polyunsaturated fats from non-hydrogenated vegetable oils,” said Ulf Risérus, MD, PhD, an author of the study and associate professor of Clinical Nutrition and Metabolism at Uppsala University, in Uppsala, Sweden.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

RELATED CONTENT
Saturated Fat Is Your Friend, Not Foe
New Evidence Disputes Fatty Acid Guidelines
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

“The lowering of the cholesterol/HDL cholesterol ratio by polyunsaturated fat is of special interest because recent large studies have shown this ratio seems to predict heart disease risk even better than LDL levels alone,” he said.

For the study, Swedish researchers monitored 39 adults (mean age of 27 years) who consumed an additional 3 muffins every day, which were made with either saturated palm oil or unsaturated sunflower oil in order to gain 3% of their body weight during the study.

While the participants maintained their normal diet and physical activity levels, researchers added or took away a muffin depending on weight gain of the individual.

According to researchers, only participants eating the muffins with saturated oils had cholesterol concerns, although both groups had an increase in insulin resistance, which is an early warning sign of diabetes later in life.

The study showed that individuals who consumed the unsaturated fat muffins displayed decreased low-density lipoproteins (LDL-bad cholesterol) levels, a lowered ratio between total cholesterol and high-density lipoproteins (HDL-good cholesterol), and other positive markers of cardiovascular health.

Researchers found that LDL levels varied by 9% and the overall cholesterol/HDL cholesterol ratio varied a maximum of 18% throughout the 2 groups, while the mean weight gain for both groups was 2.2%.

Investigators noted that the short-term metabolic adverse changes might explain the heightened risk of manifesting type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease among overweight people.

The complete study is published in the October issue of the Journal of the American Heart Association.

-Michelle Canales

References:

Iggman D, Rosqvist F, Larsson A, et al. Role of dietary fats in modulating cardiometabolic risk during moderate weight gain: a randomized double-blind overfeeding trial (LIPOGAIN Study). J Am Heart Assoc. 2014 October [epub ahead of print] doi: 10.1161/JAHA.114.001095.

American Heart Association. Weight gain study suggests polyunsaturated oil healthier option. October 15, 2014.  http://newsroom.heart.org/news/weight-gain-study-suggests-polyunsaturated-oil-healthier-option.  Accessed October 16, 2014.