Plant-sourced and animal-sourced monounsaturated fatty acid intakes in relation to mortality: a prospective nationwide cohort study

Purpose Monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFAs) are typical components of various plant-sourced and animal-sourced foods. However, the associations of MUFA consumption from different sources with mortality remain unclear. This study aimed to investigate the relationships between MUFA intakes from plant and animal sources and mortality. Methods A total of 14,305 participants from China Health and Nutrition Survey were prospectively followed up for 14 years. Dietary intake of MUFAs was assessed by 3-day 24-h dietary records in each round. Cox proportional hazards regression models were used to compute hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Results A total of 1006 deaths occurred during 199,091 person-years of follow-up. Intake of total MUFAs was not associated with mortality (P-trend = 0.17). The plant-sourced MUFA intake was strongly associated with lower mortality [HRQ4vsQ1(95% CI) 0.72 (0.58-0.89);P-trend = 0.008], whereas animal-sourced MUFA intake showed no significant association. Likewise, oleic acid (OA) and palmitoleic acid (PA) intakes from plant sources were also inversely associated with mortality [HRQ4vsQ1(95% CI) 0.66 (0.52-0.84) for OA and 0.73 (0.59-0.91) for PA], while animal-sourced OA and PA were not related to mortality. Theoretically replacing saturated fatty acids (SFAs) (5% of total energy) with isocaloric plant-sourced MUFAs was associated with 15% (95% CI 5-25%) lower mortality. In addition, 18% (95% CI 10-26%) lower mortality was observed when theoretically replacing the sum of SFAs and animal-sourced MUFAs with isocaloric plant-sourced MUFAs. Conclusions Intakes of MUFAs, including OA and PA, from plant but not animal sources were associated with lower total mortality. These findings suggested the importance of consuming MUFAs from plant-based foods for overall health.