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Combined Fish Oil and High Oleic Sunflower Oil Supplements Neutralize their Individual Effects on the Lipid Profile of Healthy Men

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Lipids

Abstract

Both n-3 and n-9 fatty acids share a common metabolic pathway and can potentially and individually improve cardiovascular disease risk factors. Dietary n-6 is known to weaken the efficacy of n-3 fatty acids due to competition for the same enzymes. Still unclear is whether a similar competition exists between n-3 and n-9 fatty acids. Thus, a 12-week intervention study was conducted to investigate the effect of different combinations of fish oil and high-oleic sunflower oil (OSO) on healthy subjects. Included were five groups (98 subjects): three groups received a fixed amount of n-9 (8 g/day) with varying amounts of n-3 (1, 2 or 4 g/day), one group was given n-3 fatty acids only (2 g/day) and another was given n-9 only (8 g/day). We found that fish oil supplement (2 g/day) was able to decrease TAG by about 13 %, this effect was diminished with the co-ingestion of n-9 (OSO). Intake of OSO (8 g/day) reduced both total and LDL cholesterol by about 10 %, this effect was reduced by the addition of fish oil. Both fish oil and OSO failed to have any significant effect on both glycemic and blood pressure parameters. In conclusion; the impact of oleic acid (n-9) on total and LDL cholesterol was altered by the addition fish oil (n-3). These effects may have been the result of enzymatic competition between the two types of fatty acids.

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Abbreviations

FO:

Fish oil

OSO:

High-oleic sunflower oil

LNA:

Linoleic acid (18:2n-6)

ALA:

Alpha-linolenic acid (18:3n-3)

EPA:

Eicosapentaenoic acid (20:5, n-3)

DHA:

Docosahexaenoic acid (22:6, n-3)

TAG:

Triacylglycerol(s)

MUFA:

Monounsaturated fatty acid(s)

TC:

Total cholesterol

LDL-C:

Low density lipoprotein-cholesterol

HDL-C:

High density lipoprotein-cholesterol

CVD:

Cardiovascular disease

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Acknowledgments

This project has been funded by Wassen International Ltd. Surrey, UK. We would also like to thank Wassen International for providing us with the capsules. Financial supporters had no role in the design and conduct of the study; in the collection, analysis, and interpretation of the data; or in the preparation, review, or approval of the manuscript. OO carried out the study design and helped to draft the manuscript. SH performed the statistical analyses and contributed to manuscript preparation. MM coordinated the study and drafted the manuscript. DE and BE did the subject recruitment and carried out the sample analyses. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they had no conflicts of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Nutrition and Food Sciences, Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences, American University of Beirut, PO Box 11-0236, Beirut, Lebanon

    Sani Hlais, Dunia El-Bistami, Berna El Rahi, Mélanie A. Mattar & Omar A. Obeid

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  1. Sani Hlais
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  2. Dunia El-Bistami
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  3. Berna El Rahi
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  5. Omar A. Obeid
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Correspondence to Omar A. Obeid.

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Hlais, S., El-Bistami, D., El Rahi, B. et al. Combined Fish Oil and High Oleic Sunflower Oil Supplements Neutralize their Individual Effects on the Lipid Profile of Healthy Men. Lipids 48, 853–861 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11745-013-3819-x

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