Effects of Dietary Intake and Supplementation of Fatty Acids on Cardiometabolic Disorders in Humans: a Lesson from a Large Number of Meta-Analyses

Abstract

Dietary fatty acids have exerted numerous pathophysiological effects in humans. Indeed, monounsaturated fatty acids and ω-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids are generally thought to have favorable cardiometabolic actions via their anti-inflammatory and anti-thrombotic properties, while saturated fatty acids and trans fatty acids are supposed to contribute to the development and progression of atherosclerotic cardiovascular diseases by inducing dyslipidemia and obesity. However, there is much controversy about the effects of dietary intake and supplementation of fatty acids on cardiometabolic disorders. Therefore, in the present study, we limited the scope of this review to metaanalyses (1) of observational studies of dietary intake of fatty acids and (2) of interventional trials with fatty acid supplements to scrutinize the role of fatty acids in various cardiometabolic disorders. We discuss here the clinical effects of fatty acids from dietary intake or supplements on incidence of diabetes, metabolic syndrome, obesity and body weight, cardiovascular diseases and total mortality, and also review the association of fatty acid biomarkers with these cardiometabolic disorders.