Dietary Saturated Fatty Acids and Blood Cholesterol

Abstract

THE report by Bonanome and Grundy in this issue of the Journal ¹ demonstrates convincingly that a diet high in stearic acid (18 carbon atoms and no double bonds — 18:0) does not cause an elevation in plasma levels of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, in distinct contrast to a diet high in palmitic acid (16:0). LDL cholesterol levels were lowest during a high-stearic-acid diet and not significantly higher during a high-oleic-acid diet (18:1), but were 21 percent higher during a high-palmitic-acid diet. These findings extend earlier reports by Ahrens,² Keys,³ Hegsted,⁴ and their colleagues, in which only total blood cholesterol was . . .