title: Dietary saturate/unsaturate ratio as a determinant of adiposity.
abstract: The characteristic leanness of vegans and adherents to "Mediterranean" diet patterns may reflect the fact that the high saturate-to-unsaturate ratio of Western omnivore diets tends to impair muscle insulin sensitivity, leading to a compensatory up-regulation of insulin secretion. Since insulin signals adipocytes to take up and retain fatty acids, a high dietary saturate-to-unsaturate ratio would be expected to promote obesity. It is proposed that, at any given level of total fat intake, the dietary saturate/unsaturate ratio will correlate positively with BMI and propensity for weight gain - a readily testable prediction. The relatively low ratios of saturates to unsaturates and of essential to non-essential amino acids in plant-based diets may be primarily responsible for the low rates of obesity, diabetes, coronary disease, and "Western" cancers observed in quasi-vegan societies.
authors.affiliation: NutriGuard Research, 1051 Hermes Ave., Encinitas, CA 92024, United States. mccarty@pantox.com
authors.forename: Mark F
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: McCarty
mesh_terms: D050154:Adiposity; D004041:Dietary Fats / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D004042:Dietary Fats, Unsaturated / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D006801:Humans; D007328:Insulin / Q000378:metabolism; D007333:Insulin Resistance; D000078790:Insulin Secretion
chemical_list: D004041:Dietary Fats; D004042:Dietary Fats, Unsaturated; D007328:Insulin