Role of different dietary saturated fatty acids for cardiometabolic risk

Abstract

There is clinical and observational evidence to suggest that saturated fatty acids (SFA) increase cardiovascular disease risk compared with polyunsaturated fatty acids from vegetable oils. Replacing SFA intake has thus been a public health target, but the role of individual SFA in metabolic disease is still incompletely understood. Observational data Indicate that all SFA may not necessarily be detrimental. The cholesterol-raising effect of SFA differs among individual SFA and possibly also with regard to cardiovascular and metabolic risk factors. The impact of dietary SFA on cardiovascular disease remains somewhat controversial, possibly due to such individual differences. In this article, we will also separately discuss the effects of dairy SFA, including biomarkers, as a means to elucidate these relationships between fatty acids, foodstuffs and cardiometabolic disease.