A mixture of dietary saturated fatty acids raises the serum total cholesterol concentrations compared with a diet of isoenergetic amounts of carbohydrates. Saturated fatty acids are not all equally hypercholesterolemic: stearic acid (18:0) and saturated fatty acids with < 12 carbon atoms are thought not to raise serum cholesterol concentrations. This suggest that the cholesterol-raising properties of saturated fatty acids should be attributed solely to lauric acid (12:0), myristic acid (14:0), and palmitic acid (16:0). These three saturated fatty acids, however, may have different effects on serum total-cholesterol concentrations as well. Results from controlled dietary experiments suggest that lauric acid (12:0) is less, and myristic acid (14:0) probably more, hypercholesterolemic than palmitic acid (16:0). Effects of the different saturated fatty acids on the distribution of cholesterol over the various lipoproteins are largely unknown, but it is suggested that stearic acid lowers HDL cholesterol concentrations relative to other saturated fatty acids. At present, however, too many questions are unanswered to quantitate these differences.
SummaryThe effects of two strictly controlled diets, one rich in complex carbohydrates, the other rich in olive oil, on serum lipids were studied in healthy men
Intake of dietary flavonols and flavones was inversely associated with risk for cardiovascular disease in several epidemiologic studies. This may have been due to effects on hemostasis because flavonoids have been reported to inhibit platelet aggregation in vitro. We indeed found that 2500 micromol/L of the flavonol quercetin and the flavone apigenin significantly inhibited collagen- and ADP-induced aggregation in platelet-rich plasma and washed platelets by approximately 80-97%. However, lower concentrations, such as might occur in vivo, had no effect. To test this in vivo we fed 18 healthy volunteers 220 g onions/d providing 114 mg quercetin/d, 5 g dried parsley/d providing 84 mg apigenin/d, or a placebo for 7 d each in a randomized crossover experiment with each treatment period lasting 2 wk. Onion consumption raised mean plasma quercetin concentrations to 1.5 micromol/L; plasma apigenin could not be measured. No significant effects of onions or parsley were found on platelet aggregation, thromboxane B2 production, factor VII, or other hemostatic variables. We conclude that the antiaggregatory effects of flavonoids seen in vitro are due to concentrations that cannot be attained in vivo. Effects of dietary flavonols and flavones on cardiovascular risk are possibly not mediated by hemostatic variables.
On the basis of their usual calcium intake, 12 healthy normotensive male students were divided into a low and a high calcium group. Both groups were provided with complete diets containing the same calculated quantities, expressed per MJ, of protein, fat, carbohydrate, sodium, potassium, phosphorus, and calcium. After an initial period of two weeks during which all participants received an additional 100 mmol sodium daily, 6 participants received an additional 22 mmol sodium/day (low sodium), the other 6 participants 178 mmol sodium/day (high sodium). After two weeks the sodium regimes were crossed over for a subsequent two-week period. When the second week of the low sodium period is compared with the second week of the high sodium period, the increase in the calcium/creatinine ratio, expressed on molar basis, was 0.059 for the low and 0.053 for the high calcium group (p less than 0.05). The increase in the molar potassium/creatinine ratio was 0.65 for the low and 0.03 for the high calcium group (p less than 0.025). However, after correcting for the calcium intake the effect in the low calcium group was found to be greater (p less than 0.05). Sodium supplementation was found to have no effect on blood pressure, but mean systolic (p less than 0.10) and diastolic in the high calcium group were lower. This suggests that calcium may well play a role in the regulation of blood pressure.
The effects of a low-fat, carbohydrate-rich and a high-fat, olive-oil-rich diet on blood pressure were studied under strict dietary control. Forty-seven healthy normotensive men and women were fed a diet high in saturated fatty acids (20 en%) and total fat (38 en%) for 17 d. Twenty-four subjects then received a low-fat, carbohydrate-rich diet (total fat 22 en%) and the other 23 a high-fat, olive-oil-rich diet (oleic acid 24 en%, total fat 41 en%) for 36 d. Both test diets had the same level of saturated fatty acids (7-10 en%) and linoleic acid (4 en%). Systolic blood pressure fell by 2.3 and diastolic by 4.7 mm Hg in the carbohydrate group and by 2.7 and 4.4 mm Hg in the olive-oil group, respectively (differences between diets groups not significant). These results suggest that a high-fat diet rich in monounsaturated fatty acids has no deleterious effect on blood pressure in healthy normotensive subjects in comparison with a low-fat, carbohydrate-rich diet.
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