For cardiovascular risks, the kind of fat consumed may be as important as how much. In a study published online Oct. 15 in the Journal of the American Heart Association, volunteers had better cardiometabolic markers after seven weeks of consuming muffins baked with sunflower oil compared to those with palm oil.

The research team compared changes in weight gain, cholesterols, pro-inflammatory fatty acids and other markers when volunteers consumed polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) or saturated fatty acid (SFA). Sunflower oil and other nontropical oils like canola oil contain more PUFA, while palm and other tropical oils contain more SFA.

David Iggman, MD, of the Uppsala University Unit for Clinical Nutrition and Metabolism, in Uppsala, Sweden, and colleagues fed 39 volunteers approximately three muffins a day for seven weeks. The goal was a 3 percent weight gain. The team modified muffin consumption by one muffin to approach that goal.

Many cardiovascular risk markers were comparable, including weight gain between the two groups. However, low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol levels and total cholesterol to high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol level ratio differed between the groups by 9 percent and 18 percent respectively, lower in the group consuming PUFA. Pro-inflammatory fatty acids were not increased by the PUFA diet and PCSK9 was decreased in volunteers consuming PUFA.

While Iggman et al observed an increase in HDL cholesterol, they wrote, “Such increase, however, may not be clinically relevant, since increasing HDL cholesterol using drugs or through genetic variation has not reduced CVD [cardiovascular disease] risk.”

Proinsulin markers increased in all study participants.

In a press release, co-author Ulf Risérus, MD, PhD, associate professor of clinical nutrition and metabolism at Uppsala University, added “Studies using these oils in weight-stable participants have demonstrated that the adverse effects on LDL seems to disappear shortly after they stop consuming foods with saturated fats, and this may also be the case here. Such data would be important to encourage people who gained weight to lose their weight and lower metabolic risk.”