Health benefits of monounsaturated fatty acids

Publisher Summary Currently, much is known about the effect on lipid metabolism of the principal fatty acids in the human diet. Based on this knowledge, dietary recommendations have been made for the population with the aim of reducing cardiovascular risk. Given that the most noteworthy effect is that Saturated Fatty Acids [“SFAs”] increase plasma levels of total cholesterol and Low-Density Lipoprotein [“LDL”] cholesterol, it is widely accepted that a healthy diet should contain a limited amount of this nutrient. The effect of a high intake of Monounsaturated Fatty Acids [“MUFAs”] results in a wide range of health benefits beyond cholesterol, raising great interest in the possible preventive effects of this type of diet on cardiovascular risk. MUFA-enriched diets reduce the requirement for insulin and decrease plasma concentration of glucose and insulin, in type 2 diabetic patients, compared with the effect of high-SFA and low-fat, high-CHO diets. Certain data show that this dietary model could have a hypotensive effect, similar to that observed with the intake of other unsaturated fat enriched diets. Furthermore, substantial evidence suggests that oleic-enriched LDL are more resistant to oxidative modifications and dietary MUFA could influence different components and functions related with the endothelium. This includes endothelium-dependent vasodilatation and a reduced capacity of oleic-enriched LDL to promote the adhesion and chemotaxis of monocytes. On the other hand, MUFA-enriched diet decreases the prothrombotic environment, modifying platelet adhesion, coagulation, and fibrinolysis.