Scientists from the Chinese Academy of Sciences found that the intake of linoleic acid is linked to a lower risk for type 2 diabetes.
They used data from 83,648 women participating in the Nurses’ Health Study (NHS; 1980-2012), 88,610 women from NHSII (1991-2013), and 41,771 men from the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study (1986-2012).
The team examined the association between intakes of n-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) and type 2 diabetes risk. There were 18,442 types 2 diabetes cases during the study period.
The team found dietary n-6 PUFAs accounted for an average of 4.4 percent to 6.8 percent of total energy and consisted primarily of linoleic acid (at least 98 percent).
Type 2 diabetes risk was 14 percent lower when LA replaced saturated fats, 17 percent lower when substituting for trans fats, and 9 percent lower when substituting for carbohydrates.
There was no impact on diabetes risk when n-3 PUFAs or monounsaturated fats were replaced with LA.
This study provides additional evidence that LA intake is linked to a lower risk of type 2 diabetes, especially when replacing saturated fatty acids, trans fats, or carbohydrates.
Linoleic acid is the predominant n-6 polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) in the Western diet and we can obtain it from vegetable oils such as sunflower, safflower, soybean, corn, and canola oils as well as nuts and seeds.
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The research was published in Diabetes Care and conducted by Geng Zong et al.
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