Whole-fat diet may help prevent heart disease: study

Whole-fat diets are not unhealthy and may help prevent cardiovascular disease (CVD) and premature death, according to a global study across 80 countries challenging the recommendation to limit high-fat dairy foods. Is. The study, published in the European Heart Journal Global Study, showed that consumption of fruits, vegetables, dairy (mainly whole fat), nuts, legumes and fish were associated with a lower risk of CVD and premature death across all world regions. The addition of unprocessed red meat or whole grains had little effect on health outcomes.

“Low-fat foods have taken center stage among the public, the food industry and policy makers,” said Dr. Andrew Mente of McMaster University’s Population Health Research Institute in Canada, with nutrition labels focused on reducing fat and saturated fat. Are.”

“Our findings suggest that the priority is to increase protective foods such as nuts (often avoided because they are too energy-dense), fish and dairy, rather than restricting dairy (especially whole fat) to very low amounts.” Our results suggest that up to two servings of dairy products, primarily whole-fat foods, can be included in a healthy diet throughout the day,” Mente said. This is in line with modern nutritional science that dairy products, especially whole fat, may protect against high blood pressure and metabolic syndrome.”

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Approximately 147,642 of the general population in 21 countries were tested on a “Healthy and Longevity” diet consisting of 2-3 servings of fruit per day, 2-3 servings of vegetables per day, 3-4 servings of legumes per week, 7 servings of . of nuts per week, 2–3 servings of fish per week, and 14 servings of dairy products (mainly whole fat but not including butter or whipped cream).

The results showed that diet was associated with a 30 percent lower risk of death, 18 percent lower chance of CVD, 14 percent lower risk of myocardial infarction and 19 percent lower risk of stroke. The association between healthy diet scores and outcomes was confirmed in five independent studies including a total of 96,955 patients with CVD in 70 countries.

“The associations were strongest in regions with the worst quality diets, including South Asia, China and Africa, where caloric intake was low and refined carbohydrates dominated. This suggests that there is a large proportion of deaths and CVD among adults worldwide.” Part of this may be due to “undernutrition, ie low intake of energy and protective foods, rather than overnutrition,” said senior author and principal investigator Professor Salim Yusuf. It challenges current assumptions.”