Abstract
To the Editor:
The report on dietary fatty acids and plasma cholesterol by Mensink and Katan (Aug. 17 issue)
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suffers from a subtle flaw in design and, possibly, in execution. The control diet contained energy derived from fat as follows: 19.3 percent from saturated fatty acids, 11.5 percent from monounsaturated fatty acids, and 4.6 percent from polyunsaturated fatty acids. The subjects then followed for 36 days a diet in which approximately 7.0 percent energy as saturated fatty acids was replaced with either 3.3 percent as polyunsaturated fatty acids and 3.6 percent as monounsaturated fatty acids, or 8.1 percent as polyunsaturated . . .