The Effects of Linoleic Acid Consumption on Lipid Risk Markers for Cardiovascular Disease

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the number one contributor to death in the United States and worldwide. Lipid risk markers for CVD include high serum concentrations of total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), very-low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (VLDL-C), lipoprotein (a), and triglycerides, as well as low serum concentrations of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C). Additional factors to assess CVD risk include apolipoprotein A (associated with HDL) and apolipoprotein B (associated with LDL). A suggested dietary strategy to decrease these risk factors is to replace a portion of saturated fatty acids with unsaturated fatty acids – especially polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs). One PUFA, in particular, is the essential omega-6 PUFA linoleic acid, which has been demonstrated to affect these CVD risk markers. Therefore, this chapter will discuss the effects of linoleic acid consumption on lipid risk markers for CVD in healthy individuals, the associated mechanisms, and dietary recommendations to decrease CVD risk.