Plant-based oils linked with lower heart disease risk, blood fat analysis confirms

New Delhi: Analysing blood fat has helped researchers confirm with "even more certainty" that replacing butter and coconut oil with plant-based fats, such as groundnut and olive oils, can lower risk of metabolic diseases. In their new study, the researchers used lipidomics, which helps analyse fats in the blood, or lipids. They showed that it is possible to measure diet-related changes and directly link them to the risk of developing heart disease and diabetes. Their findings are published in the journal Nature Medicine.

"Our study confirms with even more certainty the health benefits of a diet high in unsaturated plant fats, such as the Mediterranean diet, and could help provide targeted dietary advice to those who would benefit most from changing their eating habits," said senior author Clemens Wittenbecher, a research leader at Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden.

The Mediterranean diet is rich in nuts, fruits and vegetables, along with whole grains and legumes. The dishes are mainly cooked in olive oil and also include a moderate intake of fish, poultry, dairy and eggs. Red meat and sweets are rarely consumed.

A part of this research, involving 113 participants, was conducted in a diet-related study at the University of Reading, UK.

For 16 weeks, one group consumed a diet high in saturated animal fats, while the other group followed a diet rich in unsaturated plant-based fats. Blood samples were analysed using lipidomics to identify specific lipids reflecting the diets each participant consumed.

"We summarised the effects on blood lipids with a multi-lipid score (MLS). A high MLS indicates a healthy blood fat profile and a high intake of unsaturated plant fat and low intake of saturated animal fat can help achieve such positive MLS levels," said first author Fabian Eichelmann from the German Institute of Human Nutrition Potsdam-Rehbruecke.

The blood fat results were linked with the occurrence of cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes, data for which were taken from previous large-scale observational studies.

The researchers found that participants having a healthy blood fat profile had a "substantially reduced risk of developing cardiometabolic diseases."