New Study Reevaluates Effect of Fat Intake on Cholesterol and Heart Disease Risk

A study reevaluating “the traditional diet-heart hypothesis” concludes
that replacing dietary saturated fat with vegetable oils lowers serum
cholesterol but does not reduce the risk of death from coronary heart
disease or other causes. Christopher Ramsden, et al., “Re-evaluation of
the traditional diet-heart hypothesis: analysis of recovered data from
Minnesota Coronary Experiment (1968-73),” BMJ, April 2016.

Using previously unpublished data from the Minnesota Coronary Experiment
(MCE)—“a double blind randomized controlled trial designed
to test whether replacement of saturated fat with vegetable oil rich in
linoleic acid reduces coronary heart disease and death by lowering serum
cholesterol”—researchers examined data on diet, serum cholesterol and
health outcomes for 9,423 women and men ages 20 to 97 years. Their
results evidently showed that substituting saturated fat with linoleic acid
showed no benefits for coronary atherosclerosis or myocardial infarcts,
even though participants in the dietary intervention group exhibited a
significant reduction in serum cholesterol compared with controls.

“The pooled results of the MCE and four similar trials failed to find any
reduction in mortality from coronary heart disease,” notes a concurrent
BMJ editorial. “In the past decade, old certainties regarding dietary fats
have been questioned, and some have been abandoned … With these new
findings, the recommendation to consume less than 10% of calories per
day from saturated fats will be under increased scrutiny.”

Issue 600