Reduction in saturated fat intake for cardiovascular disease

Abstract

E ect of cutting down on the saturated fat we eat on our risk of heart disease Review questionWe wanted to find out the e ects on health of cutting down on saturated fat in our food (replacing animal fats and hard vegetable fats with plant oils, unsaturated spreads or starchy foods). BackgroundHealth guidance suggests that reducing the amount of saturated fat we eat, by cutting down on animal fats, is good for our health. We wanted to combine all available evidence to see whether following this advice leads to a reduced risk of dying or getting cardiovascular disease (heart disease or stroke). Study characteristicsWe assessed the e ect of cutting down the amount of saturated fat we eat for at least two years on health outcomes including dying, heart disease and stroke. We only looked at studies of adults (18 years or older). They included men and women with and without cardiovascular disease. We did not include studies of acutely ill people or pregnant or breastfeeding women. Key resultsWe found 15 studies with over 59,000 participants. The evidence is current to October 2019. The review found that cutting down on saturated fat led to a 21% reduction in the risk of cardiovascular disease (including heart disease and strokes), but had little e ect on the risk of dying. The review found that health benefits arose from replacing saturated fats with polyunsaturated fat or starchy foods. The greater the decrease in saturated fat, and the more serum total cholesterol is reduced, the greater the protection from cardiovascular events. People who are currently healthy appear to benefit as much as those at increased risk of heart disease or stroke (people with high blood pressure, high serum cholesterol or diabetes, for example), and people who have already had heart disease or stroke. There was no di erence in e ect between men and women. This means that, if 56 people without cardiovascular disease, or 32 people who already have cardiovascular disease, reduce their saturated fat for around 4 years, then one person will avoid a cardiovascular event (heart attack or stroke) they would otherwise have experienced. Quality of the evidenceThere is a large body of evidence assessing e ects of reducing saturated fat for at least two years. These studies provide moderate-quality evidence that reducing saturated fat reduces our risk of cardiovascular disease.Reduction in saturated fat intake for cardiovascular disease (Review)

Cardio-Metabolic Effects of High-Fat Diets and Their Underlying Mechanisms—A Narrative Review

“…In addition, analysis of data from 28 trials showed a decrease in body weight of 1.6 g/d for every percentage decrease in daily energy intake from fat [14]. Specifically, increased consumption of saturated fats has been associated with risk factors such as elevated concentrations of low-density lipoprotein (LDL)-cholesterol and apolipoprotein B [9,10,15]. Similarly, high intake of trans unsaturated fatty acids increases the risk of heart disease and cardiovascular mortality [9,16].…”

“…In summary, the trials conducted in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s focused on reducing saturated fat intake, and while they achieved this and reduced serum cholesterol, they did not reduce incidence of myocardial infarction or coronary artery disease deaths [15]. In contrast, the Diet Reinfarction study [116], the Lyon Heart Study [117], the PREDIMED study [106], and more recent work by Li et al [115] have shown that constituents of the Mediterranean diet providing healthy monounsaturated fats are more effective in preventing cardiovascular disease and reducing coronary artery disease deaths than low-fat, low-cholesterol diets.…”

Coconuts and Health: Different Chain Lengths of Saturated Fats Require Different Consideration

“…Lowering LDL-C has, thus, been at the center of recommendations for reducing cardiovascular disease risk. Connected to this is a long-standing deduction that increased intake of saturated fat increases risk of CVD, and therefore, recommendations to decrease saturated fat intake have also been a part of recommendations for decreasing CVD risk [ 1 , 2 ]. Much of the research linking saturated fat intake to higher LDL-C levels to cardiovascular disease risk has assumed this relationship as part of what is referred to as the diet heart hypothesis [ 3 ].…”

Dietary Management of Type 2 Diabetes in the MENA Region: A Review of the Evidence

“…Despite these guidelines being based on a plethora of observational and experimental evidence from ethnically and geographically diverse populations, the link between dietary fat consumption and cardiometabolic health continues to be one of the vexed public health issues. It appears that, although reducing dietary saturated fat was associated with a lower risk of combined cardiovascular events, it had little or no impact on diabetes diagnosis [ 171 ]. Similarly, recent meta-analyses of large long-term studies have reported an inverse association or no association of SFA with T2DM, challenging the traditional views that SFA can only lead to adverse metabolic effects [ 171 , 172 , 173 , 174 , 175 ] ( Table 2 ).…”