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Trans fats, not saturated fats, linked to increased mortality, CHD risks
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Trans fat intake was associated with an increased risk for all-cause mortality and CHD; however, consuming saturated fats did not appear to influence risk for mortality, CHD, CVD, ischemic stroke or diabetes, according to recent data.
Russell de Souza, ScD, and colleagues performed a systematic review of studies published since 1981 to clarify current guidelines that restrict energy intake of saturated fats to less than 10% and trans fats to less than 1%, following recent study results indicating a link between CHD risk and industrial trans fats, but not saturated fats, according to a press release.
Saturated fats
De Souza, assistant professor in the department of clinical epidemiology and biostatistics at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, and colleagues assessed the potential link between saturated fat intake and each health outcome based on findings from three to 12 prospective cohort studies, in a population of 90,501 to 339,090 participants. According to the results, saturated fat intake did not influence the likelihood that patients would experience:
- all-cause mortality (RR = 0.99; 95% CI, 0.91-1.09);
- CVD mortality (RR = 0.97; 95% CI, 0.84-1.12);
- total CHD (RR = 1.06; 95% CI, 0.95-1.17);
- ischemic stroke (RR = 1.02; 95% CI, 0.9-1.15); or
- diabetes (RR = 0.95; 95% CI, 0.88-1.03).
The researchers, however, observed a trend toward increased risk for CHD-related mortality (RR = 1.15; 95% CI, 0.97-1.36).
Trans fats
The potential link between trans fat intake and each health outcome was assessed in one to six prospective cohort studies involving 12,942 to 230,135 participants. Results from the analysis indicated that patients who consumed higher levels of total trans fat were at increased risk for developing several adverse health outcomes, including:
- all-cause mortality (RR = 1.34; 95% CI, 1.16-1.56);
- CHD mortality (RR = 1.28; 95% CI, 1.09-1.5); and
- total CHD (RR = 1.21; 95% CI, 1.1-1.33).
The researchers estimated that a 2% increase in total trans fat intake was associated with a 25% increased risk for CHD and a 31% increased risk for CHD mortality. There was no indication that total trans fat consumption increased the risk for ischemic stroke (RR = 1.07; 95% CI, 0.88-1.28) or diabetes (RR = 1.1; 95% CI, 0.95-1.27).
Results from further analysis indicated that industrially produced trans fat, not ruminant trans fat, increased risk for CHD mortality (RR = 1.18; 95% CI, 1.04-1.33) and total CHD (RR = 1.42; 95% CI, 1.05-1.92). The researchers also noted that industrial trans fat was consumed more than twice as much as ruminant trans fat.
They concluded that their findings correlate with recent data, but noted that the included studies were methodologically heterogeneous. Confidence estimates calculated using the GRADE approach indicated that the certainty of estimates for the associations between saturated fat and all outcomes were very low, whereas the certainty for the association of trans fat with CHD outcomes was moderate, with very low or low certainty for all other associations.
“Trans fats have no health benefits and pose a significant risk for heart disease, but the case for saturated fat is less clear,” de Souza said in the release. “That said, we aren’t advocating an increase of the allowance for saturated fats in dietary guidelines, as we don’t see evidence that higher limits would be specifically beneficial to health.” – by Stephanie Viguers
Disclosure: de Souza reports receiving a postdoctoral fellowship from the Canadian Institutes for Health Research. Please see the full study for a list of all other researchers’ financial disclosures.
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