title: Lack of effect on blood pressure by polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fat diets.
abstract: We carried out a blind highly controlled study to investigate the effects of a sunflower-oil-rich diet and a rapeseed-oil-rich diet on the blood pressure of normotensive subjects. Twenty-nine men and 30 women, average age 30 years (range 18-65) were first fed a baseline diet high in saturated fatty acids (19 E% (percentage of total energy), total fat 36 E%) for 2 weeks. According to the crossover design 30 subjects then received a sunflower oil diet high in polyunsaturated fatty acids (13 E%, total fat 38 E%) followed by a low erucic acid rapeseed oil diet high in monounsaturated fatty acids (16 E%, total fat 38 E%) for 3.5 weeks each. The other 29 subjects had the same diets in reverse order. At the end of the saturated fat period systolic blood pressure was 122.6 +/- 11.5(mean +/- SD) mmHg and diastolic blood pressure 75.4 +/- 7.5 mmHg; during the sunflower oil diet the figures were 119.6 +/- 10.3 and 73.9 +/- 7.4 mmHg, and during the rapeseed oil diet 120.1 +/- 11.2 and 72.6 +/- 6.4 mmHg, respectively. There was a significant difference in diastolic blood pressure only between the two oil diets (P less than 0.01). At the end of a 4 weeks' recovery period the systolic and diastolic blood pressures of the subjects were even lower (118.6 +/- 10.6 and 72.3 +/- 8.3 mmHg, respectively) than during the study. These results suggest that the dietary changes had only minor effects - if any at all - on blood pressure in healthy normotensive subjects.
authors.affiliation: Department of Nutrition, University of Helsinki, Finland.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mutanen
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Kleemola
authors.forename: L M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Valsta
authors.forename: R P
authors.initials: RP
authors.lastname: Mensink
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Räsänen
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001794:Blood Pressure / Q000187:drug effects*; D001937:Brassica; D002788:Cholesterol Esters / Q000097:blood; D004042:Dietary Fats, Unsaturated / Q000494:pharmacology; D005229:Fatty Acids, Monounsaturated / Q000494:pharmacology*; D005231:Fatty Acids, Unsaturated / Q000494:pharmacology*; D005260:Female; D006368:Helianthus; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010938:Plant Oils / Q000494:pharmacology*; D000074262:Rapeseed Oil; D016037:Single-Blind Method; D000074242:Sunflower Oil
chemical_list: D002788:Cholesterol Esters; D004042:Dietary Fats, Unsaturated; D005229:Fatty Acids, Monounsaturated; D005231:Fatty Acids, Unsaturated; D010938:Plant Oils; D000074262:Rapeseed Oil; D000074242:Sunflower Oil