Saturated fats villain no more for development of CVD, says review

Dubai: Findings from a recent review, published in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology suggested that consumption of saturated fat (SFA) is not significantly associated with cardiovascular disease (CVD) or mortality risk.

The researchers further add, "based on the scientific evidence, there seemed no scientific ground to demean saturated fat as a CVD cause. Naturally occurring SFA in nutrient-dense foods thus can be safely included in the diet."

Cardiovascular disease is among the forefront runner as the global cause of death. The conventional wisdom for decades has been that eating SFA, a type of dietary fat, undermines cardiovascular health, blocks arteries, increased CVD risk, and leads to heart attacks. Foods like butter, coconut and palm oils, red meat, and cheese have high amounts of saturated fat. Based on these, it becomes essential to determine whether this claim holds up to scientific scrutiny.

Considering the above, Reimara Valk from American University in Dubai and colleagues aimed to discuss and review recent scientific evidence on the link between dietary saturated fatty acid and cardiovascular disease.

For this purpose, they searched the online databases -- Google scholar, PubMed, and Scopus for articles published that were between 2010 and 2021 on the association between the consumption of saturated fat and CVD risk and outcomes. They reviewed prospective epidemiologic cohort studies and observational studies, systematic reviews, RCTs, meta-analyses of future epidemiologic cohort studies and observational studies, and long-term RCTs.

Based on the study, the researchers observed the following:

• Neither prospective epidemiologic cohort studies, observational studies, systematic reviews, RCTs, and meta-analyses have conclusively established a significant association between dietary SFA subsequent cardiovascular risk and CAD, MI, or mortality nor a benefit of reducing dietary SFAs on CVD risk, events, and mortality.
• Beneficial effects of replacement of SFA by monounsaturated or polyunsaturated fat or carbohydrates remain elusive.

"Findings from the review of the studies suggest that eating saturated fat is not significantly associated with CVD risk, events, or death," the researchers wrote. "Based on the scientific evidence, there is no scientific ground to demonize SFA as a CVD cause."

"Naturally occurring SFA in nutrient-dense foods can be included safely in the diet," they conclude.

Reference:

Reimara Valk, James Hammill, Jonas Grip, Saturated fat: villain and bogeyman in the development of cardiovascular disease?, European Journal of Preventive Cardiology, 2022; zwac194, https://doi.org/10.1093/eurjpc/zwac194