Serum lipid and apolipoprotein concentrations in healthy men on diets enriched in either canola oil or safflower oil.

This randomized, blind study measured changes in serum lipid and apolipoprotein concentrations in 16 men consuming 39 +/- 1% of energy (en%) as fat either from safflower- or canola-oil-based diets for 8 wk. Initially, the men were stabilized for 3 wk on a typical American (baseline) diet. Compared with baseline, the vegetable-oil-based diets reduced serum total cholesterol 9-15% (P less than 0.002), low-density-lipoprotein (LDL)-cholesterol 12-20% (P less than 0.002), and apolipoprotein B-100 21-24% (P less than 0.001). There were no significant changes from baseline to the end of the study in serum triglycerides, total high-density-lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, HDL3 cholesterol, HDL2 cholesterol, or apolipoprotein A-I. These data suggest that even if total fat intake remains at 39-40 en%, many men show lowered LDL cholesterol if saturated fatty acid intake is minimized and that diets high in polyunsaturated fatty acids do not necessarily lower HDL-cholesterol concentrations.