Macro partitioning
Replacing saturated fatty acids (SAFA) with unsaturated fatty acids (MUFA or PUFA) significantly reduces LDL cholesterol and improves insulin sensitivity, thereby reducing cardiovascular disease risk.
To lower your bad cholesterol (LDL) and improve insulin sensitivity, swap 5% of your calories from saturated fats (found in fatty meats, butter, full-fat dairy) for unsaturated fats (found in olive oil, nuts, seeds, fish). This swap should be isocaloric, meaning you don't add extra calories, just change the source. This change is supported by strong evidence from meta-analyses of clinical trials.
According to the results of meta-analyses of RCTs, replacing 5% of calories from SAFA with MUFA or PUFA (predominantly linoleic acid; C18:2n-6) is able to significantly reduce LDL cholesterol levels by 0.21 mmol/L (8 mg/dL) and 0.28 mmol/L (11 mg/dL), respectively. In addition, this dietary approach is able to significantly improve insulin sensitivity and reduce triglyceride levels...
Why this rating
Based on meta-analyses of RCTs and prospective cohort studies, though the paper notes some methodological difficulties in nutritional trials.
Source
Diet, Lifestyle, Smoking
Lâle Tokgözoğlu et al. · Handbook of experimental pharmacology · 2020
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