Effect of Dietary Stearic Acid on Plasma Cholesterol Level

To the Editor: Readers of the Journal are told, in the May 12 issue,¹ about another “discovery” in nutrition. A similar earlier claim also misled the public and was exploited commercially.² It was easy to show that the claimed cholesterol-lowering effect of monoenes was the predictable result of reducing dietary saturates.³ That nondiscovery was accompanied by praise for olive oil when, in fact, olive oil was not tested. But the olive oil industry rejoiced and pointed to the Journal in its advertising. Now we are told that “stearic acid appears to be as effective as oleic acid in lowering plasma.