Grant: Operating Grant

Health Canada's current recommendations for healthy eating suggest that Canadians reduce total fat and saturated fat in their diets. Reducing fat in the diet results in increased carbohydrate intake, and this can lead to undesirable changes in fat metabolism in some people. Reducing fat and increasing carbohydrate consumption can result in the body making more fat. More importantly, it is mostly saturated fat, potentially increasing the amount of saturated fat to which the body is exposed. High amounts of saturated fatty acids may increase the risk of chronic diseases such as diabetes and heart disease, particularly when these fats are present in the bloodstream or in the liver where there is the greatest influence. In this research, we will test to see which physiological factors result in the least amount of saturated fat production and transport. This is done by utilizing a recent technology that follows fat processing in the body with isotope tracers. This tracer can be ingested just like water, and a few hours later we are able calculate how much fat was made from the carbohydrate in food. For example, does a Western-style diet that is already high in fat prevent fat synthesis? Does reducing fat consumption result in increases in the saturated fats produced by the body, thereby adding saturated fat indirectly? Is a high fat Mediterranean-style diet best for reducing both saturated fat intake and production by the body? Hence, if low fat diets increase saturated fat, then perhaps this is not the best diet strategy for some people. This research will identify individuals who may be able to decrease dietary fat intake with no rebound increase in saturated fat in their bodies, and which people should adopt other dietary changes such as replacing saturated fat in their diet with monounsaturated fat, as in the Mediterranean-style of eating.