How strong is saturated fat intake associated with cardiovascular disease?

Two very good scientific articles published in 2009 caught my attention regarding this very hot topic. The first one was published by C. Murray Skeaff and Jody Miller Department of Human Nutrition, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand in the Annals of Nutrition and Metabolism 2009;55:173–201. This is a summary of evidence from prospective cohort and randomised controlled trials regarding dietary fat intake and coronary heart disease. They looked at saturated fat, trans fat, monounsaturated fat, polyunsaturated fats and n-3 long chain polyunsaturated fats.They included 28 cohort studies and specifically looked at different fat intake habits of different populations (114 page pdf). They concluded that the available evidence from cohort and randomized controlled trials is unsatisfactory and unreliable to make judgement about and substantiate the effects of dietary fat on risk of CHD. The exception were trans fats and n-3 fatty acids. A strong inverse relationship between increased intake of n-3 fatty acids and decreased incidence of CHD exists. The observational evidence that trans fats are independently associated with increased risk of CHD events is convincing, though based on a more limited body of evidence.
The second study is a meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies evaluating the association of saturated fat with cardiovascular disease published by Patty W Siri-Tarino et al. in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition in 2010. They reviewed 21 studies. The meta-analysis of prospective epidemiologic studies showed that there is no significant evidence for concluding that dietary saturated fat is associated with an increased risk of CHD or CVD. More data are needed to elucidate whether CVD risks are likely to be influenced by the specific nutrients used to replace saturated fat. These findings raise serious questions about the current low fat dietary trends. According to four National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (NHANES) between 1971 and 2000 evaluated by the CDC the prevalence of obesity in the US increased from 14.5% to 30.9%. While mean energy intake in kcals increased, mean percentage of kcals from carbohydrate increased, and mean percentage of kcals from total fat and saturated fat decreased. There is a clear association between the prevalence of obesity and the increased risk of developing heart disease. At this point the question should focus on the potential risks of heart disease associated with increased intake of carbohydrates and trans fats. follow these links
Dr. Eric Westman Metabolism society William S. Yancy Jr, MD, MHS