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Elevated intake of saturated fats increases heart disease risk

Adults who consume higher levels of major saturated fatty acids have a heightened risk for developing coronary heart disease, and should replace saturated fats with healthier energy sources, according to findings published in The BMJ.

“Prevailing dietary guidelines recommend keeping saturated fatty acid (SFA) intake below 10% of total energy for the prevention of cardiovascular disease, a leading cause of death worldwide,” Geng Zong, postdoctoral fellow at the department of nutrition at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, and colleagues wrote. “However, findings from recent systematic reviews and meta-analyses remain inconsistent on the association between SFA intake and coronary heart disease, largely owing to SFA being compared to different macronutrients in published studies.”

Zong and colleagues evaluated two prospective, longitudinal cohort studies (the 1984-2012 Nurses’ Health Study [n = 73,147 women] and the 1986-2010 Health Professionals Follow-up Study [n = 42,635 men]) to assess the impact of long-term dietary intake of individual SFAs on coronary heart disease risk. Participants did not have any major chronic diseases at baseline.

The researchers reported that the mean intake of SFAs (mainly lauric, myristic, palmitic and stearic acids) constituted 9% to 11.3% of energy intake over time. Consumption of these four major SFAs were highly correlated in diet (Spearman correlation coefficients, 0.38 to 0.93 [all P < 0.001]). Adjusted analysis for multivariate lifestyle factors and total energy intake showed that the hazard ratios of coronary heart disease were 1.07 (95% CI, 0.99-1.15) for lauric acid; 1.13 (95% CI, 1.05-1.22) for myristic acid; 1.18 (95% Ci, 1.09-1.27) for palmitic acid; 1.18 (95% CI, 1.09-1.28) for stearic acid; and 1.18 (95% CI, 1.09-1.28) for all four SFAs combined.

Patients who replaced 1% of their daily consumption of major SFAs with equivalent energy from polyunsaturated fats, monounsaturated fats, whole grain carbohydrates or plant proteins displayed a 6% to 8% reduction in coronary heart disease risk. The risk for coronary heart disease was lowest when palmitic acid, the most copious SFA, was replaced.

“Owing to high correlations among individual SFAs in diet, these findings support the current dietary recommendations that focus on replacement of total saturated fat as an effective approach to preventing cardiovascular disease,” Zong and colleagues concluded. “The public health and clinical significance of modulating the content of individual SFAs in specific foods should be further evaluated.” – by Alaina Tedesco

Disclosure: The authors report funding by research grants from the NIH. Please see full study for complete list of relevant financial disclosures.