Individual saturated fatty acids and nonfatal myocardial infarction in Costa Rica

Abstract

Increased saturated fat intake is a risk factor for cardiovascular disease (CVD) (Hu et al, 1999, 2001), the leading cause of death in many Western and Latin American countries (Anon, 2002; Reddy & Yusuf, 1998). Although the effect of saturated fat on CVD risk has been mainly attributed to its ability to raise total and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol (Kris-Etherton & Yu, 1997), it could be due, in part, to low-fiber intake among consumers of high-fat diets (Ascherio et al, 1996). Studies in Nigeria suggest that the effects of saturated fat on serum cholesterol depend on the subject’s physical activity level, total fat and total energy intakes (Kesteloot et al, 1989; Glew et al, 2001). Most studies on saturated fat have been experimental and compared individual saturated fatty acids (SFAs) to carbohydrates and/ or oleic acid with regard to changes in serum lipid profiles (Katan et al, 1995; Kris-Etherton & Yu, 1997). Most of these studies showed that lauric, myristic and palmitic acids were hypercholesterolemic and that myristic acid was the most potent (Denke & Grundy, 1992; Zock et al, 1994; Katan et al, 1995) while stearic acid and the short-chain SFAs were considered to be neutral (Grundy & Denke, 1990; Yu et al, 1995; Kris-Etherton & Yu, 1997; Judd et al, 2002).