Beneficial effect on serum cholesterol levels, but not glycaemic regulation, after replacing SFA with PUFA for three days: a randomised crossover trial.

Replacing intake of saturated fatty acids (SFA) with polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) reduces serum cholesterol levels and cardiovascular disease risk. The effect on glycaemic regulation is however, less clear. The main objective of the present study was to investigate the short-term effect of replacing dietary SFA with PUFA on glycaemic regulation.Seventeen healthy, normal-weight participants completed a 25-day double blind, randomised, and controlled, two-period crossover study. Participants were allocated to either interventions with PUFA products or SFA products (control) in a random order for three consecutive days, separated by a 1.5-week washout period between the intervention periods. Glucose, insulin and triglycerides were measured before and after an oral glucose tolerance test. In addition, fasting total cholesterol, non-esterified fatty acids and plasma total fatty acid profile were measured before and after the three-day interventions. Fasting and postprandial glucose, insulin, and triglyceride levels and fasting levels of non-esterified fatty acids and plasma fatty acids profile did not differ between the groups. However, replacing dietary SFA with PUFA significantly reduced total cholesterol levels with 8 % after three days (P = 0.002). Replacing dietary SFA with PUFA for only three days have beneficial cardio-metabolic effects by reducing cholesterol levels in healthy individuals.