Beneficial effects of increasing monounsaturated fat intake in adolescentswith type 1 diabetes

This study aimed to increase the monounsaturated fat content in the diet of outpatient adolescents with type 1 diabetes and to examine the metabolic e ffects after 12 weeks. Twenty-three adolescents were randomly allocated to either a high monounsaturated fat diet or a control diet. Their mean age wa s 16.9 (S.D. 2.1) years and median HbA(1c) was 9.1% [IQR 7.9-10.4%]. Dietar y targets were not reached judged by their 4-day food diaries. However, the whole study group had a significant increase in monounsaturated fat as ind exed by red cell phospholipid fatty acids (RCFAs), with an increase of n-9 RCFAs from 14.9% [IQR: 14.5-21.7%] to 21.7% [IQR: 18.8-25.6%] (P = 0.002). Changes in n-9 RCFAs were inversely related to changes in HbA(1c) (R-2 = 0. 26, P = 0.02), such that a 10% increase in n-9 RCFAs corresponded to a 0.64 % improvement (decrease) in HbA(1c). Changes in n-9 RCFAs were also inverse ly related to changes in plasma total cholesterol (R-2 = 0.38, P = 0.002) a nd plasma LDL cholesterol (R-2 = 0.21, P = 0.03). These changes were not as sociated with changes in insulin dose, body weight or physical activity. Ov erall, the results demonstrate that a modest increase in the monounsaturate d fat content of an adolescent diet has the potential to improve glycaemic control and lipid profile. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd. All right s reserved.