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Choose Healthy Fats to Benefit the Heart

Large-scale data review reveals that reducing saturated fats while increasing polyunsaturated fats boosts heart health.

In the latest study to reaffirm the detriments of saturated fats on heart health, Dariush Mozaffarian, from Harvard Medical School (Massachusetts, USA), and colleagues have revealed that simple substitution with polyunsaturated fats may drastically slash the risks of coronary heart disease.  The team’s meta-analysis involved data from eight clinical trials involving 13,614 study subjects, finding that every 5% increase in polyunsaturated fat consumption corresponded to a 10% reduction in the risks of coronary heart disease.  The researchers conclude that: “These findings provide evidence that consuming [polyunsaturated fats] in place of [saturated fats] reduces [coronary heart disease].  This suggests that … a shift toward greater population [polyunsaturated fat] consumption in place of [saturated fats] would significantly reduce rates of [coronary heart disease].”

Dariush Mozaffarian, Renata Micha, Sarah Wallace. “Effects on Coronary Heart Disease of Increasing Polyunsaturated Fat in Place of Saturated Fat: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.”  PLoS Medicine, 23 Mar 2010; doi 10.1371/journal.pmed.1000252.

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