High Fat Diet with a High Monounsaturated Fatty Acid and Polyunsaturated/Saturated Fatty Acid Ratio Suppresses Body Fat Accumulation and Weight Gain in Obese Hamsters

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of a high fat diet with experimental oil consisting of 60% MUFAs (monounsaturated fatty acids) with a P/S ratio of 5 on fat deposition and lipid metabolism in obese hamsters. Hamsters were randomly assigned to a control group and a diet-induced obesity group for nine weeks. Then an additional eight-week experimental period began, during which obese hamsters were randomly divided into three groups and fed different amounts of the experimental oil mixture in their diets as follows: 5%, 15%, and 20% w/w (OB-M5, OB-M15, and OB-M20 groups, respectively). The results showed that the OB-M15 and OB-M20 groups had significantly lower blood cholesterol and higher insulin levels. Compared to the control group, the three obese groups exhibited higher hepatic fatty acid synthase activity; however, the acyl-CoA oxidase activities were also enhanced. Although dietary fat content differed, there were no differences in energy intake, final body weights, and epididymal fat weights among the four groups. These results suggest that regardless of whether the specimens had a high fat intake or not, dietary fat containing high MUFAs with a high P/S ratio had beneficial effects on maintaining blood lipid profiles and may not result in body fat accumulation in obese hamsters, possibly by promoting lipolytic enzyme activities.

Effect of Locally Manufactured Niger Seed Oil on Lipid Profile Compared to Imported Palm and Sunflower Oils on Rat Models

“…Slight increase in the level of triglyceride has been shown in rats fed with 15% sunflower oil as compared to rats fed with niger seed oil. This result agreed with the finding of a study that reported that increasing the polyunsaturated fatty acid content in food increases the Triacylglycerol level [ 35 , 36 ]. The levels of total cholesterol, HDL-c, LDL-c, and TAG were significantly ( p < 0.05) higher in rats fed with 15% palm oil compared to control group, rats fed with 15% niger seed oil, and rats fed with 15% sunflower oil.…”

“…The significant decrease in body weight gain percentage of rats fed with 15% sunflower oil as compared to rats fed with 15% niger seed oil, rats fed with 15% palm oil, and control group and the significant ( p < 0.05) decrease in body weight gain percentage of rats fed with 15% niger seed oil compared with rats fed with 15% palm oil might be because of the fatty acid composition difference of sunflower oil, niger seed oil, and palm oil [ 28 – 32 ]. Researchers indicated that the utilization of polyunsaturated fatty acids increases the utilization of proteins and cholesterol and might assist in losing weight [ 35 , 36 ]. Research done on dietary fatty acid with utilization of polyunsaturated fatty acids reported that the polyunsaturated fatty acids facilitated the lipid metabolism and resulted in decrease in obesity [ 43 , 44 ].…”

“…This might be because of fatty acid composition differences in which the palm oil contains more saturated fatty acid compared to the fatty acid composition of sunflower oil and niger seed oil; particularly the palm oil contains more palmitic acid [ 40 , 45 ]. Different studies reported that saturated fatty acids (SFAs) have been shown to produce higher rates of weight gain compared with other types of fatty acids [ 36 , 42 , 43 , 46 ].…”

Dietary Fat, but Not Protein or Carbohydrate, Regulates Energy Intake and Causes Adiposity in Mice

“…For example, we only used a single source of protein, yet some studies suggest that adiposity may depend on an interaction between protein source and high dietary fat content (McManus et al, 2015). We only used a single combination of saturated, monounsaturated, and poly-unsaturated fats, and again variation in these components has also been suggested to be important for weight gain (Yang et al, 2017;Piers et al, 2003;Liao et al, 2010). Finally, we used only one type of refined carbohydrate (sucrose) and delivered this in the food.…”

Fatty Acid Composition of Oil from Groundnuts and Oyster Nuts Grown in Uganda

“…The M/S ratio of this study is slightly higher. Diets with high M/S ratio of >1 decrease plasma HDL-C and triacylglycerides (Yang, Lin, Chang, & Chien, 2017). Sinanoglou, Batrinou, Mantis, Bizelis, & Miniadis-meimaroglou (2013) and Calder (2015) suggested that MUFA are heart protective while SFA may increase risk of cardiovascular disease.…”