Effect of palm olein intake on lipid profile and fat deposition
Research type
Research Study
Full title
The chemical structure of a lipid determines its effect on blood lipid profile and fat deposition.
IRAS ID
173652
Contact name
Gary Frost
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Imperial College London and Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 0 months, 0 days
Research summary
Over the past decade there has been a substantial rise in knowledge on different effects of of fats on health and well-being. World Health Organisation recognised that categorising fats by simply the number of their double bonds: saturated, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated has many limitations and individual fatty acids within these groups have distinct biological properties and different effect on health. Saturated fat (SFA) is widely used in food products but misunderstood as “bad” fats because it was found to raise cholesterol concentration. However, studies show that cocoa butter, a highly saturated fat (67% saturated) has neutral effects on serum cholesterol level in human subjects. Chemical structure of the fat determines its physical characteristics, which in turn affects its absorption, lipid metabolism and fat distribution on tissues. The different digestibility and absorption of fatty acid at different position at the triglycerides backbone might be the reason for the neutral effect of some saturated fats.
Palm oil is currently the mostly used vegetable oil found in 50% of products on supermarket shelves and its popularity is still rising. Its inteesterified form has been used instead of unhealthy trans fats in cakes and biscuits. Palm oil, a vegetable oil has similar proportions of saturated, mono- and polyunsaturated fatty acids to lard, an animal fat but they have different chemical structure, which might explain why palm olein behaves similarily as monounsaturated fat in affecting cholesterol level.
The current study aims to investigate whether diet with realistic doses on palm oil will have an effect on lipid profile and fat deposition in healthy volunteers
Up to date, no studies investigated the effect of palm oil intake on lipid profile and fat deposition in long term.REC name
London - London Bridge Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
15/LO/0683
Date of REC Opinion
19 Jun 2015
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion