Research
Energy balance
Monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA) and Polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) stimulate higher diet-induced thermogenesis (DIT) and energy expenditure compared to Saturated fatty acids (SFA), which may aid in long-term weight maintenance despite having weaker effects on acute appetite suppression.
Incorporate more unsaturated fats (like olive oil, avocados, nuts) into your diet. Even if they don't make you feel as full as other foods, they may help your body burn more calories at rest and after meals compared to saturated fats.
GoodSupportsHIGH confidence
In contrast, mono-unsaturated fats do not have much effects on appetite control, but they can be beneficial in weight control over the long term due to stimulatory effects on energy expenditure.
Why this rating
Supported by multiple interventional studies showing higher DIT/EE with unsaturated fats.
Source
A review on differential effects of dietary fatty acids on weight, appetite and energy expenditure
Vahideh Behrouz et al. · Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition · 2020
DOI 10.1080/10408398.2020.1852172
narrative_reviewCited 41×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
More from this paper
- Saturated fatty acids (SFA) promote greater long-term weight gain compared to unsaturated fatty acids (MUFA/PUFA) primarily due to lower diet-induced thermogenesis (DIT) and reduced energy expenditure, despite potentially stimulating appetite-regulating hormones like CCK and PYY more strongly.Good
- Omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (n-3 PUFA), specifically EPA and DHA, can reduce body fat mass and abdominal adiposity, but may not significantly reduce total body weight in overweight or obese individuals when used as a supplement alone.Moderate
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