Fat is
coming back into favour after publication of a new study in Lancet, the
highly-respected British medical journal.
The lead
author is Dr. Andrew Mente of McMaster University, and his team touched off a
global sensation of news media coverage after the results were presented during
a conference in Barcelona, Spain.
The study is titled “Associations of fats and carbohydrate intake with
cardiovascular disease and mortality in 18 countries from five continents
(PURE): a prospective cohort study.”
"Higher carbohydrate intake was
associated with an increased risk of total mortality but not with the risk
of cardiovascular disease or cardiovascular disease mortality.
“Intake of total fat and each type of
fat was associated with lower risk of total mortality.
“Higher saturated fat intake was
associated with lower risk of stroke.
“Total fat and saturated and unsaturated fats were not significantly associated with risk of myocardial infarction or cardiovascular disease mortality," the researchers found.
“Global dietary guidelines should be
reconsidered in light of these findings," they concluded.
The study included 135,000 adults
globally who are involved in a long-term longitudinal study of nutrition.
During follow-up, the researchers
documented 5,796 deaths and 4,784 major cardiovascular disease events.
