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Monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA)
Monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFAs) are important for our heart health, energy metabolism, and cell membranes. Learn more about MUFAs and how you can incorporate them into your diet. Is olive oil really the best choice, or are there perhaps better alternatives?
A balanced, plant-based diet with few to no industrially processed foods generally provides sufficient macro- and micronutrients, with the exception of vitamin B12. However,phytochemicalsare particularly relevant for maintaining health and healing, even though they are not considered essential nutrients – apart from vitamins.
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Basics
Fats have more than twice the energy density (9.3 kcal per gram of pure fat) compared to other macronutrients such as carbohydrates and proteins (4.1 kcal per gram each). This makes them the most important energy store for humans and animals. The main component of dietary fats are triglycerides (triacylglycerols). These are building blocks made up of the glycerol molecule, each linked to three fatty acids.2
During digestion, our body breaks down these triglycerides into fatty acids, among other things. These fatty acids are classified according to their chemical structure (number of carbon atoms = length, degree of saturation determined by hydrogen atoms and double bonds). The three main groups are saturated fatty acids, monounsaturated fatty acids, and polyunsaturated fatty acids. This article focuses on monounsaturated fatty acids.
A fatty acid is called "monounsaturated" if it contains only one carbon-carbon double bond; in English, these fatty acids are called MUFAs (monounsaturated fatty acids).1 Due to the structural "kink" caused by the double bond, MUFAs cannot be stacked as tightly as saturated fatty acids (SFAs). This results in a lower melting point. Therefore, these fatty acids are found in a more liquid state at lower temperatures than an SFA with the same chain length would be.2
More than 100 naturally occurring MUFAs have been identified, but most of them are very rare compounds. Generally, they have an even number of carbon atoms, between 14 and 24, and the double bond is usually located at position 9, i.e., at the 9th carbon atom of the main chain.
As with polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), the double bond in MUFAs can also exist in two configurations. Either the hydrogen atoms are located on the same side as the double bond (cis configuration), or on the opposite side (trans configuration). The cis configuration is the predominant form of MUFAs in foods.3,6 We will discuss the trans configuration in the chapter on trans fats.
Occurrence
Foods high in monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFAs) include vegetable oils such as olive oil, rapeseed oil, peanut oil, safflower oil, and sesame oil. Nuts such as cashews, almonds, pistachios, macadamia nuts, and hazelnuts also contain many MUFAs. Avocados, animal fats, and numerous seeds also have a high MUFA content. Animal products high in MUFAs include red meat (beef and pork), highly processed meats (ham, sausages), high-fat dairy products (cheese, butter, etc.), eggs, and fish. Processed products, in particular, are also rich in SFAs and therefore place a double burden on our bodies. More information on the MUFA content in oils, nuts and seeds can be found in the tables at the end of this article.
Oleic acid (18:1*) and palmitoleic acid (16:1) are the most abundant MUFAs.4 Of the two mentioned, oleic acid is the most widespread cis-MUFA in the human diet. Many vegetable oils and animal fats are sources of oleic acid.5
* Explanation ("X:Y"): X = number of carbon compounds (in oleic acid 18 = 18 C atoms) and Y = number of double bonds (in oleic acid 1 = 1 double bond, which is the case for all MUFAs).
Nutrition - Health
A wide variety of fatty acids are found in the human diet, in the bloodstream, and in cells and tissues. Fatty acids are energy sources and membrane components. They have biological activities that influence cell and tissue metabolism, function, and responsiveness to hormonal and other signals. Through these effects, fatty acids affect health, well-being, and disease risk.5
What role do MUFAs play in this context? Cell membranes must be fluid to function properly, allowing for transport across the membrane and enabling cellular signaling. Our bodies achieve this, among other things, through the incorporation of unsaturated fatty acids.6
As with SFAs, it should be noted that our bodies are not solely dependent on dietary intake for MUFAs, but can also produce them themselves from saturated fatty acids: through desaturation (desaturase) and elongation enzymes (elongase). Enzymes are functional proteins.4,5 For example, human desaturase enzymes insert a double bond between the 9th and 10th carbon atoms, resulting in oleic acid (18:1).6
As with other fatty acids, MUFAs can also be converted into other fatty acids (except PUFAs) or directly incorporated into adipose tissue for energy storage.7
Perhaps the best-known source of MUFAs in the diet is olive oil, which has gained popularity primarily due to further studies on the "Mediterranean diet". More information can be found by clicking below. In cold-pressed olive oil, MUFAs make up approximately 75% of the total fat content – almost 98% of which is oleic acid.8 A study with a small number of participants showed that the MUFA component is responsible for reducing LDL cholesterol subclasses and fractions and therefore contributes to an anti-atherogenic fatty acid profile (against the development of atherosclerosis or vascular calcification).9
But is olive oil really that healthy? The answer, as always, isn't so simple because one should consider food and its components in the context of other foods (rather than in isolation). The majority of recently published, larger studies attribute health-promoting properties to olive oil.10-13 Researchers suspect various components contribute to these effects: in addition to the MUFA and PUFA content, the replacement of other oils or fats such as margarine, butter, mayonnaise, and milk fats with olive oil plays a role, among other things.14,15
We do not deny that olive oil is one of the healthier oils among the well-known varieties – although the superiority of other oils regarding heart-healthy omega-3 fatty acids is clearly evident, e.g. walnut oil and cold-pressed rapeseed oil – see the tables below.
In summary, MUFAs generally fare better than SFAs; however, there is still no great need to consume them through diet, as the body can produce most of them itself. MUFAs are also significantly better than trans fats. Certain trans fats occur naturally in small amounts in the milk and body fat of ruminants (e.g., cattle and sheep).
The vast majority of trans fats are produced during food manufacturing from unsaturated fats. Hydrogen atoms are incorporated to convert the more reactive double bonds into saturated and longer-lasting bonds. Trans fats are also unintentionally produced as byproducts in certain heating processes; a good example is deep-frying in the case of potato chips and French fries.
Replacing margarine, butter, and dairy fats (generally animal products with a high saturated fat content) with "healthier" fats/oils can be expected to have a protective effect on heart health. Olive oil has become a flagship product of the MUFA (Multiple Fatty Acids) movement, primarily due to the Mediterranean diet and clever market strategies – and numerous positive studies support this claim. Nevertheless, moderate consumption is advisable. However, when it comes to "essential" fatty acids, which the body cannot produce itself, olive oil is not the "best" vegetable oil.
According to the Swiss reference values for nutrient intake, it is recommended to consume between 20 and 30 g of monounsaturated fatty acids per day for an average calorie consumption of 2000 kcal/day.
More information about the "Mediterranean diet" and its significance in relation to MUFA and olive oil can be found by clicking below:
MUFA and the Mediterranean diet
When searching for MUFAs in scientific studies, one encounters the term "Mediterranean diet" rather sooner than later, a term that has shaped the world of nutrition for many years. The "Seven Countries Study" (SCS), launched in 1958 by Ancel Keys in Yugoslavia, was the first systematic study of diet, risk factors, and disease-specific mortality rates among working men from regions with different traditional diets.16 The data collected and analyzed over 15 years, encompassing 12,763 men between the ages of 40 and 59, revealed that heart disease is not (as previously assumed) inevitably linked to age, but can also be influenced by other factors.17
This is where the MUFAs come into play, because the differences in coronary heart disease were closely related to differing consumption of saturated fats and average cholesterol levels. Since the Mediterranean countries in the study showed a low risk of heart disease, the dietary patterns summarized under the term "Mediterranean diet" were considered protective for heart health. Of course, there is no single "Mediterranean diet" because the Mediterranean Sea borders many countries that differ significantly in terms of geography, economic status, health, lifestyle, and diet.
What these diets had in common, however, was olive oil as the main fat component; they also had a high proportion of grain products, legumes, fruits and vegetables, a moderate proportion of fish, and a low proportion of dairy and meat products. They were low in saturated fats, very low in trans fats, and rich infiber and antioxidants.19
Although the SCS study is often criticized, there are now well-founded publications that objectively address many of the criticisms. The bottom line is that the study has paved the way for further research on the relationship between diet and health – but it does not demonstrate a direct causal relationship. This is particularly true for what is probably the most prominent MUFA representative: olive oil. High olive oil consumption is considered the hallmark of the traditional Mediterranean diet. This has partly led to olive oil's increased popularity and its frequent touting as a "healthy" oil.
The industry knew how to capitalize on this and heavily marketed the oil based on this aspect. Even today, many statements can be found online that attribute the health benefits of olive oil to the principles of the "Mediterranean diet". The fact is that the Mediterranean diet combines a multitude of healthy factors, providing long-term health benefits. This includes a diet rich in fiber and antioxidants through legumes, fruits, and vegetables, and low in dairy and meat products. Furthermore, it is not limited to just "olive oil," even though many poorly researched sources suggest otherwise.
Focus on oleic acid and palmitoleic acid
There are studies that show positive health effects for well-known MUFA representatives, namely oleic acid and palmitoleic acid.
A systematic review of 32 cohort studies in 2014 illustrated that higher oleic acid intake was associated with a lower risk of coronary heart disease, cardiovascular events, and cardiovascular mortality.21 Another review, which considered 28 clinical trials related to the effects of a MUFA-enriched diet on the treatment and prevention of obesity, concluded that an oleic acid-enriched diet may influence fat balance, body weight, and possibly energy expenditure.
Data show that abdominal fat and central obesity were reduced after consuming meals high in oleic acid. It is therefore suggested that oleic acid-rich meals are involved in regulating food intake, body mass, and energy expenditure.22
Palmitoleic acid is considered a lipokine (a lipid messenger released by adipose tissue, which has effects on other tissues) because it exerts an effect on distant organs—as was initially observed in studies on mice.23 Particularly at the beginning of the 21st century, human intervention studies showed that supplemental palmitoleic acid in the form of macadamia nuts could lower total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, and triacylglycerols (triglycerides, neutral fats) in the blood.24,25
A small, double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled pilot study with 20 patients investigated the effects of cis-palmitoleic acid supplementation on inflammatory activity in patients with active ulcerative colitis (chronic inflammation of the colon). The analysis indicated that this therapeutic approach reduced inflammatory activity over a period of 8 weeks.26
There are other studies related to the potentially beneficial effects of palmitoleic acid. A review that effectively summarizes many of these findings states that the results of various studies show mixed cardiovascular effects: direct or inverse correlations with obesity and hepatosteatosis (fatty liver), but at least a significant improvement or prevention of insulin resistance and diabetes.27
Nevertheless, there are insufficient studies in humans, meaning we do not fully understand the physiological effects of palmitoleic acid. Further studies are expected in the future that will focus on the influence and regulation of palmitoleic acid in humans in connection with various diseases – especially regarding type 2 diabetes.
Difference between plant and animal sources?
A good example is a study that examined differences between the quality of plant and animal-based MUFAs (multidrug-resistant fatty acids) in relation to mortality through dietary surveys. It included a total of 63'412 women and 29'966 men whose data had been collected in other studies between 1990 and 2012. After excluding confounding factors, it was found that a higher intake of plant-based MUFAs was associated with lower overall mortality, while the intake of animal-based MUFAs was associated with higher mortality. The risk of mortality has been reduced by replacing saturated fatty acids, refined carbohydrates, or trans fats with plant-based MUFAs—but not with animal-based ones.28
Conclusion
Monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFAs) from plant sources can have a health-promoting effect, especially when they replace saturated fatty acids, refined carbohydrates, or trans fats. However, our bodies are capable of producing MUFAs from saturated fats (SFAs) – and can also create the latter from basic building blocks like amino acids when needed. In short: We should generally keep fat consumption as low as possible, since the body can produce virtually everything except omega fatty acids. When fatty foods are consumed, the following order of preference applies: PUFAs (rich in omega-3 fatty acids) > MUFAs from plant sources > MUFAs from animal sources > SFAs > trans fats.
Animal products with a high MUFA content, such as red meat (beef and pork), highly processed meat (ham, sausage products) and high-fat dairy products (cheese, butter, etc.), are often also rich in SFA and therefore a double burden on our organism.
Among the most popular oils rich in MUFAs are olive oil and rapeseed oil. Although olive oil is a bestseller (due to follow-up studies on the Mediterranean diet and the influence of economic forces and lobbying), rapeseed oil has a superior profile of essential (and therefore not produced by the body) omega fatty acids.
The most dominant MUFAs are oleic acid and palmitoleic acid, for which several interesting studies have emerged in recent years demonstrating their protective effects – particularly regarding type 2 diabetes in the case of palmitoleic acid. While further results are pending, the consumption of predominantly natural MUFAs is likely to offer health benefits, especially as a replacement for SFAs from animal sources or for coconut and palm oil.
We generally recommend a more natural alternative to oils, namely in the form of nuts or seeds. Depending on their composition, these can also cover a certain amount of the fatty acids that our bodies cannot produce. You can find the corresponding values in the table below. A varied diet is important; and when it comes to oil, less is often more.
The tables below show a range of seeds and nuts that naturally provide dietary fats, including MUFAs (highlighted in bold). For comparison of the MUFA content of oils and other fatty acid components, the last table provides an overview of the oils.
Additional information: Fatty acid profile of various nuts, seeds and oils
Fat composition of some nuts, source USDA.8
Order: Amount of monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA) in ascending order, % = proportion of total fat.
Explanation: Why not strictly speaking "100 g" of total fat? This is because oils often contain other components, including trace amounts of vitamins, and primarily lipids (lipids with polar residues – they are similar to fats, but different, as they are not nonpolar like typical fats). Depending on the oil, these lipids can make up to 5% of the total fat content. Here we provide you with the raw USDA figures, which do not show all nutrients in their entirety.
Bibliography - 30 Sources
Many researchers do not believe that Wikipedia is an authoritative source. One reason for this is that the information about literature cited and authors is often missing or unreliable. Our pictograms for nutritional values provide also information on calories (kcal).
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