Consumption of Saturated Fats Shows No Significant Risk of Mortality

Inconclusive evidence continues to ping-pong back and forth about whether or not saturated fats have health risks associated with them…

A recent synthesis of observational evidence was published in BMJ after scouring through previously published literature in healthy adults. As a systematic review, this study sought to evaluate associations between saturated and trans fat intake with all-cause mortality, cardiovascular disease (CVD), coronary heart disease (CHD), ischemic stroke and type 2 diabetes.

Researchers used studies that evaluated food frequency via questionnaires, food records and 24-hour food recollections. Evidence was then graded to evaluate its quality.

Overall, the researchers labeled that the association between saturated fats and all measured outcomes was “very low.” Nonetheless, they did state there was large heterogeneity among the chosen studies for the analyses. The researchers noted that differing methodologies between the studies made them difficult to directly compare.
As for trans fats, the researchers labeled their association with the negative outcomes as “moderate.” However, they do suggest there is a difference between industrially produced trans fats and ruminant trans fats. At this time, until companies are forced to phase out industrially produced trans fats, it will be hard to differentiate this fully.

In essence, this study calls back into debate the arguments of to what extent saturated and ruminant trans fats contribute to health. As always, it is important to assess moderation when evaluating patient’s diet and health.

Practice Pearls:

• There is a debate about whether saturated and trans fats contribute to negative health consequences such as all-cause mortality, CVD, CHD, stroke and type 2 diabetes.
• A recent systematic review suggests saturated fats and ruminant trans fats have a low association with such health consequences.
• With marked heterogeneity between the studies chosen, this information should be taken with a grain of salt as moderation is always important for patients.

De Souza, Russell J, Andrew Mente, Adriana Maroleanu, et al. “Intake of saturated and trans unsaturated fatty acids and risk of all-cause mortality, cardiovascular disease, and type 2 diabetes: systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies.” BMJ (Aug 2015). Web. 5 Aug. 2015.