The fatty acid composition in serum of norwegian vegetarians.

The fatty acid composition of cholesterol esters, triglycerides, and phospholipids was determined in healthy vegetarian and non-vegetarian men 40 to 70 years of age. Statistically significant differences were demonstrated, with high linoleic and low oleic and palmitoleic acid percentages in the vegetarian group in all lipid fractions. Differences in palmitic and stearic acid were less consistent, but tended to follow those in oleic and palmitoleic acid. The differences were more marked in the cholesterol esters and the triglycerides than they were in the phospholipid fraction. No differences in arachidonic acid values were observed. A dietary survey performed in the vegetarian group 6 to 12 months prior to the study revealed high intakes of polyunsaturated fatty acids. It is concluded that the study of fatty acid composition in serum lipids has given an indirect confirmation of the findings regarding fat intake in the dietary survey. In the vegetarian group statistically significant coefficients of correlation were demonstrated between the dietary intake of polyunsaturated fatty acids in per cent of calories and the percentages of linoleic acid in the cholesterol esters and triglycerides of serum. When absolute values rather than percentage composition were considered, it was evident that the main differences between the two groups were those of higher concentrations of some monounsaturated and saturated fatty acids in the control group, while the concentration of linoleic acid appeared similar in the two groups. The combined effect of polyunsaturated fatty acid intake on the fatty acid composition and on the serum lipid levels offers a reasonable explanation for this finding.