Author Interviews, Diabetes, Nutrition / 26.02.2014
OverEating Saturated Fat May Build More Fat But Less Muscle
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Dr. Ulf Risérus
Associate Professor in Clinical Nutrition
Department of Public Health and Caring Sciences
Clinical Nutrition and Metabolism
Faculty of Medicine, Uppsala university
Sweden
MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study?
Dr. Risérus: It has previously been shown in animal studies that overfeeding polyunsaturated fat causes less fat accumulation than saturated fats, but this study is the first to suggest that this could be true also in humans. Overeating saturated fats caused significantly more accumulation of fat in the liver and intra-abdominally, as compared with overeating polyunsaturated fats from. This study suggests it does matter where the excess calories come from when we gain weight. If a high-caloric diet contains large amounts of saturated fats it seems to switch on some genes that may promote abdominal fat storage and insulin resistance, and thereby result in a more unfavorable fat storage. In contrast, such effects were not seen if the diet was lower in saturated fats but higher in polyunsaturated fats from non-tropical vegetable oils. This study also suggests a novel contributing factor regarding the tendency of some individuals to accumulate fat in the liver and abdomen, i.e. in some people excessive amounts of saturated fat in combination with sugars might induce more fat in their livers and a propensity towards abdominal visceral fat accumulation.
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