Effects of dietary monounsaturated fatty acids on plasma lipids in humans

In order to test whether monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA, M) would lower plasma cholesterol and/or triglycerides (TG), 14 young men were studied in a metabolism ward. They were given two experimental diets with the same P/S ratio (P: polyunsaturated; S:saturated fatty acids) but different P + M/S ratios in composition of dietary fatty acids. Six men were in experiment I. In two groups of three, each group was given either the high or the low P + M/S ratio diet for 6 weeks. In experiment II, two groups of four men were subjected to a 3-week cross-over feeding trial (total of 6 weeks). We found in the crossover study that when the dietary P/S ratio was fixed at 1.0, those subjects given a diet with the higher P + M/S ratio of 4.5 showed significantly higher plasma total TG, very low density lipoprotein (VLDL)-TG, low density lipoprotein (LDL)-TG, and LDL-cholesterol than when given a diet with a lower P + M/S ratio of 1.5. Plasma total cholesterol, apoprotein A-I, and apoprotein B-100 were not significantly different between the two dietary periods. Plasma fatty acid patterns showed a significantly higher plasma MUFA level during the period of a higher P + M/S diet. In contrast to some recent reports, our studies indicate that a large amount of dietary MUFA may raise some fractions of plasma lipids in humans.