Modified Fat Diet Reduces Heart Disease Risk

MANCHESTER, EnglandIndividuals who follow a modified fat diet that replaces saturated fat with monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats found in foods such as liquid vegetable oils, fish, nuts and seeds may have a reduced risk of heart disease, according to a new review published in The Cochrane Library.

Researchers at Norwich Medical School at the University of East Anglia analyzed 48 studies conducted between 1965 and 2009 that included 65,508 adult participants who had heart disease, were at risk of heart disease or were from the general healthy population. All studies reduced or modified participants dietary fat or cholesterol for at least six months by at least 30%. They found reducing saturated fat in diets reduced the risk of having a cardiovascular event, such as heart attack, stroke and unplanned heart surgery, by 14% over a 2-year period. Of the 65,508 participants, 7% had a cardiovascular event.

The review shows clearly that modified fat diets appear to be more effective in reducing the risk of cardiovascular events than low fat diets," said lead review author Lee Hooper, M.D. This could be due to a low fat diet being harder to maintain, but this is not clear."

The researchers were unable to find proof that making long-term reductions to dietary fat intake had any effect on a persons risk of death by cardiovascular causes, including heart attack, stroke and diabetes. The evidence also was not clear as to whether currently healthy people would benefit by reducing fat in their diets as much as those who are already at risk of heart disease.

There is no clear difference in effect in people at increased risk of cardiovascular disease and in the general population," Hooper said, adding the data suggest we would all benefit to some extent."