9 million deaths a year are caused by heart disease. Health behavior changes, such as exercising more, quitting smoking, and eating healthier, are often recommended.
One diet change recommended by experts is to eat fewer saturated fats and instead eat more polyunsaturated fats, which are considered healthier.
Our new research suggests that we should look at the source of saturated fat instead of just the amount.
Saturated fat and its link with heart disease are the focus of most research. There are many different types of food.
It's important to investigate which foods contain saturated fat are linked to heart disease, rather than just considering saturated fat alone. This is what we wanted to do.
The data from the University of Cambridge's study looked at the cardiovascular health of middle-aged people in 10 European countries. We compared the number of people who developed heart disease during the study with the number who did not.
To make sure our findings were representative of the whole study population, participants were randomly selected from the 385,747 participants of the EPIC study. Data on their diet was looked at as part of the analysis.
We took into account a lot of factors that may be related to heart disease, such as a person's age, sex, physical activity levels, whether they smoked or drank alcohol, and whether they were overweight or obese.
The chances of our findings about fat consumption and heart disease being explained by other factors were minimized.
There was no link between the amount of saturated fats participants consumed and their risk of developing heart disease. This picture was different when we looked at foods that are saturated fats.
People who ate more saturated fats from red meat and butter were more likely to develop heart disease. Those who ate more saturated fats from cheese, yogurt, and fish had a lower risk of heart disease.
The findings are in line with previous research that shows a link between these foods and heart disease. The link between heart disease and saturated fats depends on what food source it comes from.
Our research is based on observing the associations between diet and health. This can't prove cause and effect.
It would be impractical to conduct a randomized controlled trial where participants would be randomly assigned a diet to follow for many years.
More than one thing.
Foods are more than the sum of their parts. They have many different vitamins, minerals, and properties that can be used to prevent or cause diseases.
Although cheese and yogurt contain saturated fats, they also contain vitamins K2 and probiotics. The effects of each of these vitamins on heart disease risk can be seen through different pathways.
Studies have shown that different saturated fats have different levels of risk for heart disease.
Red meat has more palmitic acid than cheese and yogurt. Research shows that it may have a negative effect on the levels of cholesterol in our blood.
The risk of heart disease is linked to the amount of saturated fat found in dairy products.
This shows us that our health is affected by the combination of all the vitamins, minerals, and compounds in the foods we eat. It's important to consider the foods we eat with the vitamins and minerals they contain.
Being physically active, not smoking, and adopting a healthier diet are some of the factors that can prevent heart disease.
Reducing saturated fat intake may not be enough to reduce risk. Reducing red meat and butter, which are both high in saturated fats, is more important than other foods that contain saturated fats.
Marinka Steur and Nita Forouhi are both from the University of Cambridge.
The Conversation's article is a Creative Commons licensed one. The original article can be found here.
