Variation in chain length of the saturated fatty acids affects postprandial lipaemia

Saturated fatty acids of different chain lengths are metabolised differently, however, their effects on blood lipids are not clearly understood. This study aimed to investigate the impact of medium (MC-SFA) and long (LC-SFA) chain saturated fatty acids on postprandial lipaemia. After an overnight fast, healthy volunteers consumed biscuits containing 40 g of either butter (BB), coconut oil (CB) or lard (LB) in a randomised cross-over study with a minimum 7-day washout period between treatments. Blood samples were collected at baseline, 2, 3, 4 and 6 h postprandially and assessed for total cholesterol (TC) high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) and triglyceride (TG). Sixteen participants (male/female, 8/8; BMI, 23.7 ± 2.8; age, 26.2 ± 8.4) completed the study. Postprandial TG response determined by area under the curve (AUC) following CB was 59.8% lower than after BB (p < 0.01) and 58.8% lower than LB (p < 0.01). The net AUC for LDL-C was significantly higher after CB compared to the BB consumption, despite no differences in net AUC for TC and HDL-C. Consumption of MC-SFA resulted in lower postprandial TG concentrations compared to LC-SFA suggesting that food source rather than saturated fat content determines their lipemic responses.