Replacement of saturated with unsaturated fats had no impact on vascular function but beneficial effects on lipid biomarkers, E-selectin, and blood pressure: results from the randomized, controlled Dietary Intervention and VAScular function (DIVAS) study.

Study answer

What this study found

Replacing saturated fat with MUFA or n-6 PUFA did not improve vascular function. Flow-mediated dilation changed similarly across groups, with %FMD moving from 5.41 to 5.03 on the SFA diet, 5.81 to 5.74 on MUFA, and 5.86 to 5.78 on n-6 PUFA (P = 0.238). However, substitution improved several cardiovascular risk biomarkers: night-time systolic blood pressure was reduced with MUFA versus SFA (change 2.1 vs 3.8 mmHg, P = 0.019), MUFA lowered plasma E-selectin by 7.8%, and both unsaturated-fat diets attenuated increases in total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, and TC:HDL ratio (overall diet effects…

Study & population

Randomized, controlled, parallel-group dietary intervention conducted in Reading, United Kingdom.

Intervention

This randomized 16-week parallel-group trial compared two isoenergetic dietary fat substitutions against a saturated fat-rich control diet.

Key limitation

The intervention was relatively short at 16 weeks and involved a specific UK sample of nonsmoking adults with moderate cardiovascular risk, which limits generalizability.

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Original abstract