Macro partitioning
Replacing saturated fatty acids (SFA) with monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA) lowers LDL cholesterol but has an unclear or neutral effect on clinical cardiovascular disease events and mortality compared to SFA.
Swapping saturated fats for monounsaturated fats (like olive oil) will lower your bad (LDL) cholesterol. However, this swap alone may not be enough to prevent heart attacks or strokes. For better protection against heart disease, prioritize replacing saturated fats with polyunsaturated fats (like fish oils, walnuts) or whole grains instead.
Mensink et al., showed that replacement of SFA with MUFA reduced total cholesterol, LDL and HDL cholesterol and triglycerides... However, as shown in Table 1 the effect of replacing SFA with MUFA on CVD, CVD mortality and all-cause mortality is less clear. Jakobsen et al., conducted a meta-analysis of 11 prospective cohort studies and found no effect of replacing SFA with MUFA on coronary events or death.
Why this rating
Strong evidence for lipid changes, but mixed/neutral evidence for clinical events from large cohort studies.
Source
Saturated Fatty Acids and Cardiovascular Disease: Replacements for Saturated Fat to Reduce Cardiovascular Risk
Michelle A. Briggs et al. · Healthcare · 2017
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