Cutting saturated fats could shorten your life, study claims

Slashing dietary saturated fat is not recommended for good health and can even shorten your life, an international study has shown.

Cutting saturated fats could shorten your life, a new study claims.

Scientists who investigated a global population of more than 135,000 people found that cutting saturated fat intake so that it accounted for less than 3 per cent of total calories increased death rates by 13 per cent.

Higher levels of consumption of fats of all kind reduced the overall risk of death by 23 per cent, stroke risk by 18 per cent and non-heart related mortality by 30 per cent.

Diets high in carbohydrates – accounting for 77 per cent of calories – were associated with a 28 per cent greater risk of death, although they did not affect rates of heart attacks and strokes.

The researchers compared people in the top fifth of fat and carbohydrate consumers with those in the bottom “quintile” over a period of 7.4 years. Study participants had an age range of 35 to 70 and came from 18 low, middle and high income countries.

Globally, the average diet consisted of 61.2 per cent carbohydrates, 23.5 per cent fats, including 8 per cent saturated fats, and 15.2 per cent protein.

Carbohydrate intake was highest in China, South Asia and Africa, while people who ate the most fat lived in North America, Europe, the Middle East and South-East Asia.

Lead scientist Dr Mahshid Dehghan, from McMaster University in Canada, said: “The current focus on promoting low-fat diets ignores the fact that most people’s diets in low and middle income countries are very high in carbohydrates, which seem to be linked to worse health outcomes.

“In low and middle-income countries, where diets sometimes consist of more than 65 per cent of energy from carbohydrates, guidelines should refocus their attention towards reducing carbohydrate intake, instead of focusing on reducing fats.

“The best diets will include a balance of carbohydrates and fats – approximately 50-55 per cent carbohydrates and around 35 per cent total fat, including both saturated and unsaturated fats.”

Results from the Pure (Prospective Urban-Rural Epidemiology) study were published in the Lancet medical journal and presented at the European Society of Cardiology Congress taking place in Barcelona, Spain.

During the study, 5,796 participants died and there were 1,649 deaths caused by heart and artery disease. The researchers recorded 2,143 heart attacks and 2,234 strokes.