TheEffectsofDietsEnrichedinMonounsaturated OleicAcidontheManagementandPreventionof Obesity:ASystematicReviewofHuman InterventionStudies

Abstract

Obesityisassociatedwithanincreasedriskofseveralmajornoncommunicablediseases,andisanimportantpublichealthconcernglobally.Dietary fat content is a major contributorto the increase in global obesity rates. Changes in dietary habits, such as the quality of fatty acids in the diet, are proposedtopreventobesityandits metabolic complications. In recent years, a number of studies have found that oleic acid (OA), the most common MUFA in daily nutrition, has protective effects against human disease. Importantly, there is emerging evidence indicating the beneficial effects of OA in regulating body weight. Accordingly, the objective of this systematic review was to investigate the effects of diets enriched in monounsaturated OA on the management and prevention of obesity, emphasizing possible mechanisms of action of OA in energy homeostasis. Searches were performed in PubMed/MEDLINE, ScienceDirect, Scopus, ProQuest, and Google Scholar databases for clinical trials that examined the effects of diets rich in OA on obesity. Of 821 full-text articles assessed, 28 clinical trials were included in the present study. According to the studies examined in this review, diets enriched in OA can influence fat balance, body weight, and possibly energy expenditure. Importantly, abdominal fat and central obesity can be reduced following consumption of high-OA–containing meals. Mechanistically, OA-rich diets can be involved in the regulation of food intake, body mass, and energy expenditure by stimulating AMP-activated protein kinase signaling. Other proposedmechanismsinclude the prevention of the nucleotide-binding oligomerizationdomain-like receptor 3/caspase-1 inflammasome pathway,theinductionofoleoylethanolamidesynthesis,andpossiblythedownregulationofstearoyl-CoAdesaturase1activity.Insummary,current findingslendsupporttoadvicenotrestrictingconsumptionofOA-richmealssoastomaintainahealthybodyweight