HDL biology
A palmitic acid diet raises CETP activity 12 percent more than a stearic acid diet in young women (Metabolism 1996)
Original title: Different effects of palmitic and stearic acid-enriched diets on serum lipids and lipoproteins and plasma cholesteryl ester transfer protein activity in healthy young women
Twelve healthy young women followed a randomized crossover design, each consuming a palmitic acid-enriched diet and a stearic acid-enriched diet for 4 weeks apart, both diets substituting 5% of total energy from monounsaturated fat in a baseline diet with the respective saturated fatty acid. After the palmitic acid diet, serum total cholesterol, HDL-cholesterol, and apo A-I were higher than after the stearic acid diet (8%, P = .015; 9%, P = .040; and 11%, P = .011, respectively), with LDL-cholesterol tending higher as well (8%, P = .077). Plasma CETP activity increased with the palmitic acid diet compared with the stearic acid diet (12%, P = .006). The authors conclude that palmitic and stearic acid-enriched diets have different effects on serum lipids, lipoproteins, and plasma CETP activity in young healthy women.
Original abstract
The effects of palmitic and stearic acid-enriched diets on serum lipids, lipoproteins, apolipoproteins (apo) A-I and B, and plasma cholesteryl ester transfer protein (CETP) activity were examined in 12 healthy young women. Subjects followed the two experimental diets for 4 weeks according to a randomized crossover design. Both experimental diet periods were preceded by consumption of a baseline diet for 2 weeks. The diets provided 37% of total energy intake (E%) as fat, and differed only with respect to fatty acid composition. There was a substitution of 5E% of palmitic acid or stearic acid in the experimental diets for 5E% of monounsaturated fatty acids in the baseline diet. After the palmitic acid diet, serum total and high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol and apo A-I concentrations were higher (8%, P = .015, 9%, P = .040, and 11%,P = .011, respectively) and mean serum low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol concentration tended to be higher (8%, P = .077) as compared with values after the stearic acid diet. Plasma CETP activity increased in the palmitic acid diet as compared with the stearic acid diet (12%, P = .006). In conclusion, palmitic acid and stearic acid-enriched diets had different effects on serum lipids and lipoproteins and also on plasma CETP activity in young healthy women.
Summary written by cetpinhibition.org from the published abstract; figures as published. Page updated 19 August 2026. Methods.