Vegetable oil use may prevent body fat accumulation in young adulthood

A recent study has shown the inverse associations of plasma phospholipid proportions of linoleic acid (LA) and α-linolenic acid (ALA), biomarkers of vegetable oil intake, during childhood and adolescence with measures of obesity and cardiometabolic health in young adulthood. A potential sex difference has also been observed. 

LA and ALA in females inversely correlated with BMI (LA: B, –0.35, 95 percent confidence interval [CI], –0.54 to –0.17; ALA: B, –6.1, 95 percent CI, –11 to –1.5) at 16 years, as well as with waist circumference and fat mass at 24 years. 

LA also showed inverse associations with blood pressure (BP), triglycerides, low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, and total cholesterol (eg, B, –0.044, 95 percent CI, –0.079 to –0.0099) in females at 16 years. On the other hand, ALA demonstrated an inverse association with LDL-cholesterol only. 

No associations were observed between long chain n-3 fatty acids or arachidonic acid (AA) and any of the outcomes assessed. 

“These findings accord with short-term feeding trials suggesting a possible preventive role of LA on body fat accumulation,” the investigators said. 

In this study, 688 participants of the Barn, Allergi, Miljö, Stockholm, Epidemiologi cohort in Stockholm, Sweden, were included. These individuals had available data on plasma phospholipid proportions of n-3 and n-6 fatty acids (ALA, EPA, docosapentaenoic acid, DHA, LC, and AA) at 8 and 16 years, as well as BMI, waist circumference, fat mass %, BP, and blood lipids at 24 years. 

The investigators used sex-stratified multivariable-adjusted linear and logistic regression models to explore the associations between polyunsaturated fatty acids and cardiometabolic health outcomes.