Table 3.
Spearman correlations between erythrocyte membrane fatty acids and diet weighted by fatty acid contents
| Fatty acid | Saturated | Polyunsaturated | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Milk and milk products | Spreads and cooking fat | Fish and fish oil supplements | Spreads and cooking fat | Meat products | |
| 14:0 | 0.186*** | 0.188*** | – | −0.128*** | – |
| 16:0 | – | – | – | – | – |
| 18:0 | – | – | −0.077 | – | – |
| 20:0 | – | – | −0.070 | – | – |
| 22:0 | 0.132*** | 0.086* | −0.182*** | −0.089* | – |
| 24:0 | – | – | – | – | – |
| 16:1n-7 | – | – | – | −0.182*** | – |
| 18:1n-7 | – | – | – | – | – |
| 18:1n-9 | – | – | – | – | – |
| 20:1n-9 + 11 | – | – | – | 0.065 | – |
| 24:1n-9 | −0.159*** | −0.142*** | – | 0.143*** | – |
| 18:3n-3 | – | – | – | 0.229*** | – |
| 20:5n-3 | −0.091* | – | 0.415*** | – | −0.136*** |
| 22:5n-3 | – | – | 0.141*** | – | – |
| 22:6n-3 | – | – | 0.340*** | – | −0.127*** |
| 18:2n-6 | 0.104* | 0.081 | −0.121** | 0.160*** | – |
| 20:3n-6 | – | – | −0.149*** | – | – |
| 20:4n-6 | – | – | −0.272*** | −0.116** | 0.160*** |
| 22:4n-6 | – | – | −0.296*** | – | 0.128*** |
| 22:5n-6 | 0.099* | 0.093* | −0.269*** | −0.180*** | 0.132*** |
Spearman’s correlation coefficients were calculated between each erythrocyte fatty acid proportion and saturated or polyunsaturated fatty acid intake by food group taking into account approximated portion sizes. Only significant associations are shown (P < 0.05)
* P < 0.01, ** P < 0.001 and *** P < 0.0001