Research

Mixed

High intake of long-chain fatty acids (LCFAs), particularly from saturated sources like palm oil and lard, increases the Firmicutes to Bacteroidetes ratio, leading to obesity, insulin resistance, and inflammatory bowel disease in animal models.

Limit high intake of saturated long-chain fatty acids (found in palm oil, lard, and large amounts of butter). These are linked to negative gut microbiota changes and metabolic issues in animal studies. Opt for unsaturated fats like olive oil (MUFAs) or fish oil (PUFAs) for better metabolic health.

ModerateSupportsMEDIUM confidence
However, the increase of the Firmicutes to Bacteroidetes ratio, including Actinobacteria, was recorded with LCFA-rich diets (34–72% of energy) fed to healthy animal models. Additionally, increased effects of obesity, adipose tissue, plasma cholesterol, total cholesterol, weight gain, hypertension, insulin resistance, inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD), nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) in the studied subjects occurred [66–69,72].
David Johane Machate et al. · International Journal of Molecular Sciences · 2020

Why this rating

Based on animal models; human data is mentioned but less detailed regarding specific LCFA sources compared to animal studies.

Source

Fatty Acid Diets: Regulation of Gut Microbiota Composition and Obesity and Its Related Metabolic Dysbiosis

David Johane Machate et al. · International Journal of Molecular Sciences · 2020

DOI 10.3390/ijms21114093

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DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10

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