Fat high in stearic acid favorably affects blood lipids and factor VII coagulant activity in comparison with fats high in palmitic acid or high in myristic and lauric acids

Abstract

The effect of fats high in individual, prevalent saturated dietary fatty acids on lipoproteins and hemostatic variables in young healthy subjects was evaluated in a randomized strictly controlled metabolic feeding study. Three experimental diets: shea butter (S; 42% stearic acid), palm oil (P; 43% palmitic palmitic acid), and palm-kernel oil with high-oleic sunflower oil (ML; 10% myristic acid, 30% lauric acid) were served to 15 men for 3 wk each, separated by washout periods. Diet S compared with diet P resulted in significant reduction in plasma cholesterol (22%) LDL cholesterol (26%), apolipoprotein B (18%), HDL cholesterol (12%), apolipoprotein A-I (13%), and a 13% lower factor VII coagulant activity (P = 0.001). Similar differences were observed between diets S and ML. In conclusion, intake of shea butter high in stearic acid favorably affects blood lipids and factor VII coagulant activity in young men, compared with fats high in saturated fatty acids with 12-16 carbons.

Effect of synthetic triglycerides of myristic, palmitic, and stearic acid on serum lipoprotein metabolism

“…Our results agreed with previous work with natural fats and oils (Hegsted et al, 1965;Kris-Etherton et al, 1993;Tholstrup et al, 1994b) in which diets very high in stearic acid ( b 10 en%) produced lower serum concentrations of LDL-C than diets high in 12:0 14:0, 14:0 16:0, or 16:0. Multiple regression analysis of data from investigations of natural fats and oils suggested 14:0 is the most cholesterolemic saturated fatty acid (Hegsted et al, 1965;Mensink & Katan, 1992), but, despite the statistical associations, myristic acid (14:0) is not the major saturated fatty acid in any commonly consumed natural products including butter, meat, and tropical oils (USDA, 1979), and diets high in myristic acid are even higher in lauric or palmitic acid.…”

Should animal fats be back on the table? A critical review of the human health effects of animal fat

“…This is consistent with the well known reduction of LDL-C concentration with increased UFA. A similar effect is expected for dietary stearic acid because its effects on serum cholesterol fractions are not statistically significantly different to that of oleic acid, it is associated with a reduction in concentration of apoB-100, and it is rapidly converted to oleic acid in the liver where the LDLR gene is expressed (Bonanome and Grundy 1988;Tholstrup et al 1994a;Mensink et al 2003).…”

“…As an example from one of the hardest animal fats, approximately only 27% of tallow from pasture-fed beef is cholesterol-increasing saturated fatty acid (CISFA) (Yang et al 1999b), i.e. chain length of 12-16 carbons, and which would raise serum cholesterol, 1% is polyunsaturated,~4% is conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), and the rest is either MUFA or is the saturated fatty acid (SFA) stearic acid that causes the same effect on total serum cholesterol (TSC) as MUFA (Keys et al 1965;Grande et al 1970;Bonanome and Grundy 1988;Tholstrup et al 1994aTholstrup et al , 1994bde Roos et al 2001;Mensink et al 2003). By comparison, in butter from pasture-fed cows, 42% of the fat is CISFA (Couvreur et al 2006) and would raise serum cholesterol despite butter having a total of more than 60% SFA.…”

“…The effect of different FA on the average TSC of the sample, its sub-fractions, fasting triacylglycerides (FTG) and the number and size of low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) particles have been determined on largely inactive people in studies in metabolic wards. The description of these average changes in TSC and FTG have been studied for more than 50 years, they are well known and are predictable using the Keys equation (Man and Gildea 1932;Havel et al 1955;Ahrens et al 1957;Havel 1957aHavel , 1957bKeys et al 1957Keys et al , 1965Albrink and Man 1959;Kuo and Carson 1959;Grande et al 1970;Acheson et al 1988; Tholstrup et al 1994aTholstrup et al , 1994bde Roos et al 2001;McDevitt et al 2001;Mensink et al 2003;Matthan et al 2004;Chapman et al 2011;Miller et al 2011). These changes can be summarised by saying, first, that substituting MUFA and stearic acid for starch causes no change in the average serum cholesterol of a population sample, although LDL-C concentration decreases while high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) concentration increases.…”

Fatty Acids as Biocompounds: Their Role in Human Metabolism, Health and Disease - A Review. Part 1: Classification, Dietary Sources and Biological Functions

“…26,27 ). In contrast, some studies have shown that stearic acid (18:0) decreases LDL-and increases HDL-cholesterol, which may suggest that it has 28,29 . Also, it has been shown that stearic acid did not increase postprandial inflammation 30 .…”