Heart Disease Risk Not Really Lowered by Eating Less Saturated Fat: Study

Reducing intake of saturated fats is the oldest and most common advice health professionals tell their patients if they wish to prevent heart problems. However, a new study questions this fact as it has been suggested that cutting down the intake of this type of fat has no direct link to lowering the risk of getting cardiovascular disorders.

According to USA Today, a team of nutrition experts at the McMaster University in Canada has discovered that the reason why there is no decrease in the risk is because individuals who lower their fat intake tend to eat up on sugary and nutrient-dense food items. Russell de Souza, co-author and registered dietitian states that the only time there will be reduction in the risk if individuals change their diet to something healthier, like whole grains, vegetables, fruits, seeds and olive oil.

Furthermore, nutrition and food experts weigh in on how the findings affect people's eating habits. Frank Hu, a nutrition and epidemiology professor at the Harvard School of Public Health, said it will not do any good if experts continue to brand saturated fats as something good or bad, because what's really important is to consider other food options and the trade-offs.

Additionally, The Independent UK adds that the study has been able to confirm how the consumption of transfats have a more than likely possibility of dying from heart diseases. This type of fat has been associated with an increase of 34 percent for mortality risk, 28 percent of fatality due to heart problems, and 21 percent increase in the possibility of having heart problems.

The current dietary guidelines state that saturated fats should be taken for less than 10 percent of the recommended daily food intake while transfats make up about less than a percent allowance to avoid any heart problems to occur.

The researchers have analyzed the results of 50 previous studies that links between saturated and trans-fats and did not discover any direct relationship between higher consumption to the possibility of experiencing stroke or death.

BT News writes that Dr. De Souza and his team do not wish to imply that they are allowing the public to increase their consumption of saturated fat, but rather, they hope to remind the public about replacing the fatty foods to something better and nutritious.

In the UK alone, about a quarter of all British deaths are caused by cardiovascular disorders. Increasing the 30 and 20 grams allowable amount for men and women, respectively, may not be advisable after all.

The study has been published in BMJ or British Medical Journal.