Fat Chance for a Healthier Diet
Professor David J. Demko, PhD
AgeVenture News Service
Dietary fat has gotten a bad rap lately. But if researchers are correct, dietary fat is not the issue. Rather, it's the kind of dietary fat that you consume that might, or might not, create a greater risk for cardiovascular disease. So says Dr. Penny Kris-Etherton, professor of nutrition at Penn State University in a new dietary study sponsored by the National Institutes of Health and the Peanut Institute.
The Penn State study compared a low-fat diet and a higher monounsaturated fat diet. The findings? Three diets high in monounsaturated fats from either olive oil, peanut oil, or peanuts and peanut butter had the same favorable effects as a low-fat diet.
Of special interest to the researchers is the effect of the high monounsaturated fats on low density lipoproteins (LDLs). And just in case you slept through that biology class back in college, LDLs are considered the "bad" cholesterol. The effects of dietary fats on LDLs is very important, as you might imagine. That's because oxidation of LDLs is thought to play an important role in the development of atherosclerosis or hardening of the arteries. Increasing LDL’s resistance to oxidation is thought to delay the progression of the disease.
The study, published in the June 2001 issue of the Journal of Nutrition, compared the standard American diet (35 percent calories from fat) with a low fat diet (25 percent calories from fat), and three higher monounsaturated fat (35 percent calories from fat) diets containing either olive oil, peanut oil or peanuts and peanut butter.
When the research subjects ate the standard American diet, their LDLs oxidized faster than when they ate either the low fat diet or any of the higher monounsaturated fat diets. All three higher monounsaturated fat diets were equivalent to the low-fat diet in the length of time it took for oxidation to begin and in the amount of oxidized fatty acid produced.
The researchers say the current study provides evidence that both low fat diets and diets higher in monounsaturated fatty acids from olive oil, peanut oil, peanuts and peanut butter decrease LDL-oxidative susceptibility and thereby contribute to a decreased risk of coronary heart disease (CHD).
Dr. Kris-Etherton notes that these results offer people trying to manage their CHD risk factors with more choices. A low-fat diet isn’t the only alternative. "A Mediterranean-style diet that focuses on fruit, vegetables, monounsaturated oil, nuts, legumes and grains, and includes only small portions of meat would produce the beneficial changes seen in our study."
"People could also switch to low fat dairy products, eat peanut butter instead of butter or full fat cream cheese, use olive oil-based salad dressings, sprinkle nuts on vegetables instead of butter or margarine and use nuts in salads or stews instead of meat."
See related articles in AgeVenture archives.
Brain Chemistry Undermines Low-Fat Diet
High Protein Diet High Risk for Elder Bones
Mayo Serves Up Food for Thought on Elder Diet
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