Balance of "good" fats may help lower cholesterol

Striking a balance between two healthy forms of dietary fat may be key to lowering blood cholesterol, according to new research.

Researchers found that a diet rich in a new type of sunflower oil - which had relatively high concentrations of both polyunsaturated fatty acids and monounsaturated fats - bested olive oil when it came to lowering levels of "bad" LDL cholesterol among 31 men and women.

The findings, say the researchers, point to the importance of replacing saturated fats in the diet with a "balance" of monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats. While olive oil is rich in monounsaturated fat, it has far lower levels of polyunsaturated fatty acids, or PUFAs.

Striking a balance between two healthy forms of dietary fat may be key to lowering blood cholesterol, according to new research.

Researchers found that a diet rich in a new type of sunflower oil - which had relatively high concentrations of both polyunsaturated fatty acids and monounsaturated fats - bested olive oil when it came to lowering levels of "bad" LDL cholesterol among 31 men and women.

The findings, say the researchers, point to the importance of replacing saturated fats in the diet with a "balance" of monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats. While olive oil is rich in monounsaturated fat, it has far lower levels of polyunsaturated fatty acids, or PUFAs.
The sunflower oil's supply of both types of fat appear to be the reason for its LDL-fighting ways, the study authors report in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association.

Saturated fat is found mainly in animal products, including meat and higher-fat dairy products. Unsaturated fatty acids, which are either monounsaturated or polyunsaturated, are found in foods like vegetable oils, nuts, seeds and fatty fish.

But vegetable oils differ in their concentrations of the two types of unsaturated fat. Olive oil is rich in monounsaturated fat, but has lower PUFA levels and more saturated fat than many other vegetable oils, including canola, safflower and sunflower oils.

The sunflower oil used in the current study - sold as NuSun by the National Sunflower Association - is a new brand designed to make commercial foods that are free of so-called trans fats. These fats are created when vegetable oils undergo a chemical process called hydrogenation, which makes the oils more solid and able to hold up to commercial cooking and baking processes.

The problem with trans fats, which are found in a range of commercial baked goods, snack foods, shortening and stick margarines, is that, like saturated fat, they can raise .