They found no clear association between higher intake of saturated fats and death for any reason, coronary heart disease (CHD), cardiovascular disease (CVD), ischemic stroke or type 2 diabetes.
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Not at this time, according to study author Russell de Souza, ScD, an assistant professor of Clinical Epidemiology & Biostatistics at McMaster University in Hamilton, ON, Canada, as still more research on fats is required.
Saturated fat intake was not tied to coronary heart disease, cardiovascular disease, stroke or type 2 diabetes, but its link to risk of death from coronary heart disease was unclear.
However, the findings show that trans fats are associated with greater risk of death and coronary heart disease, they said.
“It would be foolish to interpret these findings to suggest that it is OK to eat lots of fatty meat, lashings of cream and oodles of butter”, Professor Tom Sanders, of King’s College London, told British newspaper The Independent. The trans fat risk surpassed even that associated with saturated fat, which is found in formerly taboo-for-the-heart foods like butter, eggs and red meat.
“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”.
For the review, researchers gathered data collected during 73 studies on saturated fats and 50 studies on trans fats published over the past 30 years.
A large new review of existing research suggests that for healthy people, a reasonable amount of saturated fat in the diet poses no health risk.
Their look at trans fat focused on 20 studies conducted in the United States, Finland, China and the Netherlands.
“I tell my own patients to eat wholefoods and consume more fats from olive oil, nuts and fish, for which there is good evidence heart attack and stroke are reduced”.
“Many have now realized that it’s the trans fat found in margarine, vegetable shortening, and partially hydrogenated vegetable oils that is the true villain, causing far more significant health problems than saturated fat ever could”, Dr. Pichardo-Lafontaine said.
Researchers from numerous Canadian institutions with a total of forty-one studies explains the healthy outcome of taking the saturated fats.
Unlike saturated fats, trans fats lower “good cholesterol”, he said.
One of the things that the researchers highlight is the inconsistencies in the studies analysed because of which they weren’t ablt to confirm an association between trans fats and type 2 diabetes and trans fats and ischemic stroke. Palm oils and chocolate also contain saturated fats.
Researchers confirmed that trans fat is indeed detrimental.
But when you compare the two, trans fat’s less evil cousins – saturated fats – don’t seem to have the same association.
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Ahead of the most recent study, there have been others who have questioned the long-accepted link.
