Slash Dietary Fat Intake to Improve Cholesterol Profile

While it is generally acknowledged that following a healthy diet rich in vegetables and whole grains and maintaining a physically active lifestyle benefit one’s cholesterol profile, knowledge regarding the extent to which serum lipid concentrations in older adults respond to dietary modification is scarce.  Anette E. Buyken, from the Research Institute of Child Nutrition (Dortmund, Germany), and colleagues studied data collected on 903 men and women, ages 49 years and over, enrolled in the Blue Mountains Eye Study.  Following the subjects for ten years, the researchers found that those subjects who reduced their intake of saturated fats reduced their total cholesterol levels.  Further, diet-savvy study participants who consumed fish and omega-3 fatty acids improved their levels of HDL (“good”) cholesterol, and reduced triglyceride levels as well.  The researchers conclude that: “[Ten year] changes in the intake of dietary fatty acids and their food sources appear to have contributed to concurrent improvements in the serum lipid profile of older [adults].”