Polyunsaturated fats may alter appetite hormones in millennials

Millennial (ages 18-35) who regularly consume foods that contain polyunsaturated fats (PUFAs), such as walnuts, salmon and canola oil, may experience favorable changes in appetite hormones associated with hunger and satiety.

Research explored how foods may reduce hunger or increase satiety by influencing these hormones. People who consumed a diet, high in PUFAs had a significant decrease in fasting ghrelin, a hormone that increases hunger, and a significant increase in peptide YY (PYY), a hormone that increases fullness or satiety. These types of hormone changes imply better appetite control.

“Appetite hormones play an important role in regulating how much we eat,” said researcher, Jamie A Cooper, PhD of the University of Georgia. “These findings tell us that eating foods rich in PUFAs, like those found in walnuts, may favorably change appetite hormones so that we can feel fuller for longer,” he added.

Walnuts are unique among nuts because they are primarily comprised of PUFAs, with 13 out of 18 grams of total fat per one ounce serving. Research on the health benefits of PUFAs continues to evolve and most recently the 2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans has recommended consuming this type of fat in place of saturated fat.

In the context of a whole food diet, such as the diet used in this study, it is difficult to discern whether changes seen with the PUFA-rich diet can be attributed to one specific type of PUFA, food source, or a combination of overall dietary factors.

Funding for this research was provided by the California Walnut Commission (CWC). The CWC has supported health-related research on walnuts for more than 25 years. While the CWC does provide funds and walnuts for various projects, the actual studies are conducted independently by researchers who design the experiments, interpret the results and write the manuscripts.