Effects of Different Dietary Fatty Acids on Human Energy Balance, Body Weight, Fat Mass, and Abdominal Fat

Abstract

The goals of obesity treatment include the reduction of body weight and fat mass, as well as fat in the abdominal region. A hypoenergetic, low-fat diet is a commonly prescribed medical nutrition therapy for individuals with excessive body weight and fat mass. In recent years, different types of fatty acids (saturated and unsaturated) have been shown to induce different physiological responses in the body, some of which may aid weight loss through appetite regulation, reducing food intake, and increasing thermogenesis. More interestingly, increased polyunsaturated fat intake has been demonstrated to reduce the fat mass of animals, especially in the abdominal region, thus making preferential intake of this fat subtype a potential strategy to assist abdominal fat loss in humans. Drawing evidence from human studies, this chapter reviews the acute postingestive effects of fat ingestion on energy balance and describes how these effects translate into the body weight and fat mass changes.