Transitioning from a diet high in saturated animal fats to one abundant in plant-based unsaturated fats influences the composition of fats in the blood, which can affect long-term disease risk. A significant study published in Nature Medicine and led by researchers from Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden, the German Institute of Human Nutrition, and other universities has shown that it is possible to precisely measure changes in dietary fats in the blood and link these directly to the risk of cardiovascular diseases and type 2 diabetes. Clemens Wittenbecher, the research leader at Chalmers University and the study’s senior author, asserts that this study not only reinforces the health benefits of diets high in unsaturated plant fats, like the Mediterranean diet but could also help provide specific dietary advice to those who would benefit most from modifying their diets.
The World Health Organization (WHO) emphasizes the importance of healthy diets in preventing chronic diseases. To reduce cardiometabolic risks, the WHO recommends replacing saturated fats with unsaturated fats from plant sources. However, the certainty of these recommendations has been moderate due to limitations in previous studies. This new research addresses these limitations by employing lipidomics to analyze blood fats, linking diet to disease in a groundbreaking combination of dietary intervention studies with highly controlled diets and cohort studies that include long-term health tracking.
Part of this research was done through a dietary intervention study at the University of Reading, UK, involving 113 participants over 16 weeks. One group consumed a diet rich in saturated animal fats, while the other followed a diet high in unsaturated plant-based fats. The lipidomic analysis of blood samples identified specific lipid molecules that reflected the varied diets, demonstrating the direct impact of diet on blood fat composition.
Fabian Eichelmann from the German Institute of Human Nutrition Potsdam-Rehbruecke, and first author of the study, explained that the effects on blood lipids were summarized with a multi-lipid score (MLS). A high MLS indicates a healthier blood fat profile, achieved by consuming high levels of unsaturated plant fats and low levels of saturated animal fats. These MLS results from the dietary intervention were then statistically related to the occurrence of cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes in extensive observational studies, revealing that a higher MLS correlates with a substantially reduced risk of developing cardiometabolic diseases.
The study also examined whether individuals with low MLS levels, which suggest a high saturated fat intake, specifically benefited from adopting healthier diets. Utilizing data from the PREDIMED trial, which focuses on the Mediterranean diet rich in unsaturated plant fats, researchers found that diabetes prevention was most pronounced in individuals with low MLS levels at the start of the study. This indicates that even individuals at higher risk due to poor dietary habits can see significant health improvements with dietary changes.
Clemens Wittenbecher highlighted that the complexity of diet makes it challenging to draw definitive conclusions from a single study. However, the innovative use of lipidomics to integrate controlled dietary intervention studies with longitudinal cohort studies has overcome many current limitations in nutritional research, paving the way for more precise and actionable dietary recommendations. This approach enhances our understanding of how specific dietary fats influence health and supports the development of targeted dietary strategies for disease prevention.
More information: Fabian Eichelmann et al, Lipidome changes due to improved dietary fat quality inform cardiometabolic risk reduction and precision nutrition, Nature Medicine. DOI: 10.1038/s41591-024-03124-1
Journal information: Nature Medicine Provided by Chalmers University of Technology
