Dietary saturated fat not linked to palmitoleic acid
The study involved 16 adults being given six 3-week diets - each containing 2,500 calories and around 130 grams of protein - that progressively increased the participants' levels of carbohydrates while reducing their consumption of total fat and saturated fat.
Each of the participants had metabolic syndrome - a number of simultaneously occurring conditions that increase the risk of diabetes, stroke and heart disease. People with metabolic syndrome have at least three of the following conditions: abnormal blood cholesterol, high blood sugar, high blood triglycerides, hypertension and obesity.
The researchers spent 3 weeks to get the participants to a baseline reduced carb diet before beginning the 18-week study. The first diet of the study consisted of 47 g of carbohydrates and 84 g of saturated fat daily, with the carb-saturated fat ratio progressively increasing until the final diet, consisting of 346 g of carbs and 32 g of saturated fat daily.
In this final diet, the carb level represented 55% of the participants' daily calories, a figure that is approximately the same as the estimated daily percentage of energy provided by carbohydrates in the American diet.
Across the study, levels of saturated fat in the blood of the participants decreased. Blood glucose, insulin levels and blood pressure also improved and, on average, the participants lost nearly 22 lb by the end of the 18 weeks.