It is now well established that diets rich in saturated fatty acids lead to high levels of serum cholesterol, whereas diets rich in unsaturated fatty acids tend to be associated with lower levels. The mechanism by which these changes in serum cholesterol are induced by dietary fat is not known. One possible explanation for these effects would be either inhibition of cholesterol biosynthesis by ...

The aim of this model study was to investigate how selected gut functions and serum lipid profile in rats on high-fat diets differed according to the type of fat (saturated vs. unsaturated) and carbohydrate (simple vs. complex). The experiment was conducted using 32 male Wistar rats distributed into 4 groups of 8 animals each. For 4 weeks, the animals were fed group-specific diets that were eit...

We performed a meta-analysis on data extracted from 97 reports of experiments, involving a total of 12,803 mice or rats, studying the effect on mammary tumor incidence of different types of dietary fatty acids. Fatty acids were categorized into saturated, monounsaturated, n-6 polyunsaturated, and n-3 polyunsaturated. We modeled the relation between tumor incidence and percentage of total calori...

Previous studies have shown that whole-animal thermal responses of ectotherms and heterotherms (e.g., hibernators), both of which experience a wide range of body temperatures, are related to the saturation level of somatic lipids, which in turn can be influenced by the ratio of saturated and unsaturated fatty acids in the diet. This study demonstrates that Djungarian hamsters held in long days ...

Selected subpopulations of hypothalamic neurons play important roles in the regulation of whole body energy homeostasis. Studies have shown that the saturated fats present in large amounts in western diets can activate an inflammatory response in the hypothalamus, affecting the capacity of such neurons to respond appropriately to satiety and adipostatic signals. In the first part of this review...

Critical insights into the etiology of insulin resistance have been gained by the use of animal models where insulin action has been modulated by strictly controlled dietary interventions not possible in human studies. Overall, the literature has moved from a focus on macronutrient proportions to understanding the unique effects of individual subtypes of fats, carbohydrates and proteins. Substa...

Introduction The discussion on the role of diet in the aetiology of coronary heart disease has tended to focus on the negative: that is, on the allegedly harmful aspects of the diet such as saturated fats, cholesterol, sucrose or purified carbohydrates. The underlying atherosclerosis can be considered as a degenerative disease, strongly linked with environmental factors, which ends in coronary ...

In the study of fat metabolism, it is important to examine the behaviour of each constituent fatty acid of the ingested fat under investigation. For this purpose a method is necessary by which a quantitative determination of each of the different saturated and unsaturated fatty acids can be carried out, not only in the fat ingested but also in the fat of the blood, chyle and faeces. Reversedpha...

OBJECTIVE Our objective in this paper is to assess diets in the European Union (EU) in relation to the recommendations of the recent World Health Organization/Food and Agriculture Organization expert consultation and to show how diets have changed between 1961 and 2001. DATA AND METHODS Computations make use of FAOSTAT data on food availability at country level linked to a food composition da...