Plant-based oils reduce heart disease risk, study finds

Researchers have said that replacing butter and coconut oil with plant-based fats like groundnut and olive oils can reduce the risk of metabolic diseases.

This was determined through blood fat analysis, or lipidomics, which measures diet-related changes and their direct link to heart disease and diabetes risks. The study's findings are published in Nature Medicine.

"Our study confirms with even more certainty the health benefits of a diet high in unsaturated plant fats, such as the Mediterranean diet, and could help provide targeted dietary advice to those who would benefit most from changing their eating habits," said senior author Clemens Wittenbecher, a research leader at Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden.

The Mediterranean diet includes nuts, fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and legumes, with dishes primarily cooked in olive oil. It also features moderate amounts of fish, poultry, dairy, and eggs, with red meat and sweets being rarely consumed.

Part of this research was conducted at the University of Reading, UK, involving 113 participants. For 16 weeks, one group followed a diet high in saturated animal fats, while the other group consumed a diet rich in unsaturated plant-based fats. Blood samples were analysed to identify specific lipids reflecting the diets consumed by each participant.

"We summarised the effects on blood lipids with a multi-lipid score (MLS). A high MLS indicates a healthy blood fat profile, and a high intake of unsaturated plant fat and low intake of saturated animal fat can help achieve such positive MLS levels," said first author Fabian Eichelmann from the German Institute of Human Nutrition Potsdam-Rehbruecke.

The blood fat results were linked with cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes data from previous large-scale observational studies. The researchers found that participants with a healthy blood fat profile had a substantially reduced risk of developing cardiometabolic diseases.

(With inputs from PTI)