Article tools
Author information
Published in Volume 97, Issue 9 (May 1,1996)
J. Clin. Invest. 97(9): 2081-2091 (1996). doi:10.1172/JCI118645.
Copyright © 1996, The American Society for Clinical Investigation.

Research Article

Human fatty acid synthesis is stimulated by a eucaloric low fat, high carbohydrate diet.

L C Hudgins, M Hellerstein, C Seidman, R Neese, J Diakun and J Hirsch

Laboratory of Human Behavior and Metabolism, Rockefeller University, New York, NY 10021, USA. hudgins@rockvax.rockefeller.educ

Published May 1, 1996

A new experimental approach was used to determine whether a eucaloric, low fat, high carbohydrate diet increases fatty acid synthesis. Normally volunteers consumed low fat liquid formula diets (10% of calories as fat and 75% as glucose polymers, n = 7) or high fat diets (40% of calories as fat and 45% as glucose polymers, n = 3) for 25 d. The fatty acid composition of each diet was matched to the composition of each subject's adipose tissue and compared with the composition of VLDL triglyceride. By day 10, VLDL triglyceride was markedly enriched in palmitate and deficient in linoleate in all subjects on the low fat diet. Newly synthesized fatty acids accounted for 44 +/- 10% of the VLDL triglyceride. Mass isotopomer distribution analysis of palmitate labeled with intravenously infused 13C-acetate confirmed that increased palmitate synthesis was the likely cause for the accumulation of triglyceride palmitate and "dilution" of linoleate. In contrast, there was minimal fatty acid synthesis on the high diet. Thus, the dietary substitution of carbohydrate for fat stimulated fatty acid synthesis and the plasma accumulation of palmitate-enriched, linoleate-deficient triglyceride. Such changes could have adverse effects on the cardiovascular system.

This article Copyright © 1996, The American Society for Clinical Investigation.

Articles that cite
this article:

Effects of a low-fat, high-carbohydrate diet on VLDL-triglyceride assembly, production, and clearance
Elizabeth J. Parks, Ronald M. Krauss, Mark P. Christiansen, Richard A. Neese, Marc K. Hellerstein
J Clin Invest 104(8):1087. [CrossRef]

Genome-wide transcriptome expression in the liver of a mouse model of high carbohydrate diet-induced liver steatosis and its significance for the disease
Ion V. Deaciuc, Zhenyuan Song, Xuejun Peng, Shirish S. Barve, Ming Song, Qiang He, Thomas B. Knudsen, Amar V. Singh, Craig J. Mcclain
Hep Intl 2(1):39. [CrossRef]

Effect of Short-Term Pritikin Diet Therapy on the Metabolic Syndrome
Shelby Sullivan, Samuel Samuel
J CardioMetab Syndrome 1(5):308. [CrossRef]

Effects of inulin-type fructans on lipid metabolism in man and in animal models
Michel Beylot
br j nutr 93(s1):S163. [CrossRef]

Low hepatic stearoyl-CoA desaturase 1 activity is associated with fatty liver and insulin resistance in obese humans
N. Stefan, A. Peter, A. Cegan, H. Staiger, J. Machann, F. Schick, C. D. Claussen, A. Fritsche, H.-U. Häring, E. Schleicher
Diabetologica 51(4):648. [CrossRef]

The secretory function of adipocytes in the physiology of white adipose tissue
Ping Wang, Edwin Mariman, Johan Renes, Jaap Keijer
J Cell Physiol 216(1):3. [CrossRef]

Metabolic effects of fructose
Kim-Anne L??, Luc Tappy
9(4):469???475. [CrossRef]

Effect of High-Carbohydrate Feeding on Triglyceride and Saturated Fatty Acid Synthesis
Lisa C. Hudgins
Proc Soc Exp Biol Med 225(3):178. [CrossRef]

Unsaturated Fatty Acids Inhibit Sterol Regulatory Element-Dependent Gene Expression: A Potential Mechanism Contributing to Hypertriglyceridemia in Fat-Restricted Diets
Richard J. Deckelbaum, Rebecca A. Johnson, Tilla S. Worgall
Proc Soc Exp Biol Med 225(3):184. [CrossRef]

One-Year Effects of Increasingly Fat-Restricted, Carbohydrate-Enriched Diets on Lipoprotein Levels in Free-Living Subjects
Robert H. Knopp, Barbara Retzlaff, Carolyn Walden, Brian Fish, Brenda Buck, Barbara Mccann
Proc Soc Exp Biol Med 225(3):191. [CrossRef]

Metabolic consequences of overfeeding in humans
Luc Tappy
7(6):623. [CrossRef]

Effect of very high-fat diets on body weight, lipoproteins, and glycemic status in the obese
Frederick F. Samaha
Curr Atheroscler Rep 7(6):412. [CrossRef]

A moderate-fat diet for combined hyperlipidemia and metabolic syndrome
Robert H. Knopp, Brian Fish, Alice Dowdy, Barbara Retzlaff, Carolyn Walden, Irina Rusanu, Pathmaja Paramsothy
Curr Atheroscler Rep 8(6):492. [CrossRef]

Hyperphagia modifies FA profiles of plasma phospholipids, plasma FFA, and adipose tissue TAG
Gudrun V. Skuladottir, Pall I. Olason, Logi Jonsson, Jon O. Skarphedinsson, Vedis H. Eriksdottir, Palmi Th. Atlason, Leifur Franzson, Helgi B. Schiöth
Lipid 38(11):1127. [CrossRef]

Protein and diabetes: Much advice, little research
Marion J. Franz
Curr Diab Rep 2(5):457. [CrossRef]

Effects of Dietary Coconut Oil on the Biochemical and Anthropometric Profiles of Women Presenting Abdominal Obesity
Monica L. Assunção, Haroldo S. Ferreira, Aldenir F. Dos santos, Cyro R. Cabral, Telma M. M. T. Florêncio
Lipid 44(7):593. [CrossRef]

Sources of hepatic triglyceride accumulation during high-fat feeding in the healthy rat
T. C. Delgado, D. Pinheiro, M. Caldeira, M. M. C. A. Castro, C. F. G. C. Geraldes, P. López-larrubia, S. Cerdán, J. G. Jones
NMR Biomed 22(3):310. [CrossRef]