THE ROLE OF POLYUNSATURATED FATTY-ACIDS IN THE PREVENTION OF CHRONIC DISEASES

Strong and generally accepted dietary recommendations have been issued based mostly on our current knowledge of relationships between diet and CHD. The basis for dietary measures to reduce the risk for CHD is our understanding of the impact of diet on blood lipids. Previously, this has led to the advice to replace saturated fat by polyunsaturated fat. Due to this advice and the increased availability of food products with substantial levels of polyunsaturates, the intake of polyunsaturates has increased significantly over the last decades. The fear for a negative effect of linoleic acid, the predominant dietary PUFA, on cancer, has led to a diminished emphasis on PUFA in recommendations for the general public. Instead of a further increase in PUFA intake, the public is now advised to maintain intakes at 6-8 en %, or not to increase intake above 7 en %. An intake of up to 10 en % is still advised by some as population average, and accepted as a limit for individual intakes by others. There are new issues on the horizont: new possible mechanisms whereby diet could influence the risk for CHD are emerging e.g. the LDL-oxidation pathway and effects on blood clotting and haemostasis. Our knowledge on the relationship between dietary fat and cancer is very limited. It is likely that continued research will provide new and important insights that will enable a fine tuning of the dietary recommendations for the prevention of chronic diseases.