Metabolic health
Palmitic acid (C16:0)
Hexadecanoic acid
Included in Complete.
Compare membershipsYour main saturated fat comes from more than food.
Palmitic acid is the most common saturated fat (the kind that's firm at room temperature) in food and in your blood. Your result shows its share of all the fatty acids measured, which reflects both eating habits and how your body makes fat.
Carbohydrates and alcohol can raise it, too.
Palmitic acid is the main fat your liver makes when it turns extra carbohydrates and alcohol into fat, a process called de novo lipogenesis. In one small feeding study of adults with metabolic syndrome, blood saturated fat stayed steady even as their saturated fat intake changed widely.
In large studies, higher blood palmitic acid has been linked with a higher risk of type 2 diabetes.
Blood palmitic acid reflects how your body makes fat, along with what you eat.
Questions
What does a higher palmitic acid result mean?
It may point to more fat-making in the liver, which is associated with higher intake of carbohydrates, sugary drinks, or alcohol. It's one input, best read alongside your triglycerides, HbA1c, and the rest of your fatty acid profile.
Will eating less saturated fat lower it?
It may not lower it much. Blood palmitic acid is also shaped by carbohydrate and alcohol intake, so cutting saturated fat alone may change it less than you'd expect. Your 1:1 longevity coach can help you look at your whole eating pattern.
Sources and references
- Forouhi et al., Individual plasma phospholipid saturated fatty acids and incident type 2 diabetes, EPIC-InterAct (Lancet Diabetes Endocrinol, 2014)
- Volk et al., Step-wise increases in dietary carbohydrate, circulating saturated fatty acids, and palmitoleic acid in adults with metabolic syndrome (PLoS One, 2014)
- Hodson, Skeaff, and Fielding, Fatty acid composition of adipose tissue and blood in humans and its use as a biomarker of dietary intake (Prog Lipid Res, 2008)