Dietary Fats and Chronic Noncommunicable Diseases

Abstract

The role of dietary fat has been long studied as a modifiable variable in the prevention and treatment of noncommunicable cardiometabolic disease. Once heavily promoted to the public, the low-fat diet has been demonstrated to be non-effective in preventing cardiometabolic disease, and an increasing body of literature has focused on the effects of a relatively higher-fat diet. More recent evidence suggests that a diet high in healthy fat, rich in unsaturated fatty acids, such as the Mediterranean dietary pattern, may, in fact, prevent the development of metabolic diseases such as type 2 diabetes mellitus, but also reduce cardiovascular events. This review will specifically focus on clinical trials which collected data on dietary fatty acid intake, and the association of these fatty acids over time with measured cardiometabolic health outcomes, specifically focusing on morbidity and mortality outcomes. We will also describe mechanistic studies investigating the role of dietary fatty acids on cardiovascular risk factors to describe the potential mechanisms of action through which unsaturated fatty acids may exert their beneficial effects. The state of current knowledge on the associations between dietary fatty acids and cardiometabolic morbidity and mortality outcomes will be summarized and directions for future work will be discussed.

Relationships between Nut Size, Kernel Quality, Nutritional Composition and Levels of Outcrossing in Three Macadamia Cultivars

“…Small "Daddow" kernels had lower total-SFA relative abundance, higher total-UFA relative abundance and, thus, a higher UFA:SFA ratio than large kernels ( Table 3). The differences in total-SFA and total-UFA relative abundance were less than 1% but they could confer a slight health advantage on small "Daddow" kernels because of the beneficial effects of dietary UFAs in regulating lipid levels, maintaining healthy body weight and preventing inflammation [12,13,18,70]. Total-SFA relative abundance, total-UFA relative abundance and UFA:SFA ratio did not differ significantly between small and large kernels of "816" or "A4" (Table 3).…”

“…Total-SFA relative abundance, total-UFA relative abundance and UFA:SFA ratio did not differ significantly between small and large kernels of "816" or "A4" (Table 3). However, partial replacement of one SFA, palmitic acid, with another SFA, stearic acid, in the small kernels of "816" and "A4" ( Table 2) might provide a slight health advantage because palmitic acid increases LDL-cholesterol levels whereas stearic acid does not [13,71].…”

“…Most tree nuts are high in unsaturated fatty acids and low in saturated fatty acids [2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9]. Foods rich in unsaturated fatty acids reduce serum cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol levels and reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease [2,[10][11][12][13][14]. Tree nuts provide high levels of amino acids and non-sodium mineral nutrients, including L-arginine and magnesium, that decrease inflammation, blood pressure and oxidative stress [2,7,15].…”

Lifestyle Interventions with a Focus on Nutritional Strategies to Increase Cardiorespiratory Fitness in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, Heart Failure, Obesity, Sarcopenia, and Frailty

“…Although a low-fat diet has been long favored in the prevention and treatment of CVD, a diet high in unsaturated fatty acids (UFA) may hold far more cardioprotective benefit [119]. A cross-sectional analysis of 23 subjects with HFpEF and obesity demonstrated that consumption of mono-and polyunsaturated fatty acids (MUFA and PUFA, respectively) was positively correlated with relative peak VO 2 [88].…”

The Effects of Dietary Sugars on Cardiovascular Disease and Cardiovascular Disease–Related Mortality: Finding the Sweet Spot

“…2 Around the same time, low-fat diets were widely promoted to prevent coronary heart disease (CHD), although this was found to be ineffective 50 years later. 3,4 In response to these recommendations, consumers increased consumption of dietary carbohydrates, particularly sugars, which were later found to increase serum lipids, a major risk factor for CHD. To further support this preliminary evidence, a large meta-analysis of prospective studies including 173,753 participants found that sugars in the form of sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) were associated with greater risk for CHD, with a 16% relative risk (RR) increase of CHD for each additional daily serving.…”