Eating Fats Could Extend Your Life Study Says
By Canadian Packaging staff
General Associations of fats and carbohydrate intake with cardiovascular disease and mortality in 18 countries from five continents (PURE): a prospective cohort study European Society of Cardiology Congress how to extend yoru life McMaster University saturated fats study The LancetStudy challenges definition of a healthy diet.
In an international nutritional study led my Hamilton, Ont.’s McMaster University’s Dr. Andrew Mente says that human life could be extended by reducing carbohydrates and increasing the consumption of saturated fats.
The study—Associations of fats and carbohydrate intake with cardiovascular disease and mortality in 18 countries from five continents (PURE): a prospective cohort study—was published August 29, 2017 in the respected British medical journal The Lancet.
Click HERE to read a the report.
Along with its publication, the research paper was presented at the European Society of Cardiology Congress in Barcelona, Spain, held August 26-30, 2017.
While no one had any issue about reduced carbs—the researchers’ declaration to eat more saturated fats has created a bit of a storm.
There are two types of fats: saturated fats and unsaturated fats, and like everything in life, not all fats are created equally.
Without getting technical, foods containing a high proportion of saturated fat include animal fat include: cream, cheese, butter, milk; animal meats such as beef, poultry, pork; plant oils such as palm kernel or coconut oil; processed meats such as bologna, sausages, hot dogs, and bacon (Mmm, bacon); and even some crackers, chips, cookies, and pastries.
Note that the study did NOT say to stop eating unsaturated fats, of which there are two types: mono-unsaturated fats; and poly-unsaturated fats.
The types of food included in this are all of the healthy things people have been eating to be healthy, such as: nuts; plant oils like canola and vegetable; certain fish such as salmon, tuna and anchovies, all of which contain omega-3 unsaturated fatty acids; olives and avocados, the green fruit being the latest hotly sought after health point. These are still considered to be healthy foods.
No one in the research paper is saying NOT to eat unsaturated fats, only that they believe—after studying the dietary intake of 135,335 people in 18 countries across five continents aged 35-70—that saturated fats may also have a health benefit.
The study notes: “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.”
During a follow up of the original subjects studied, the researchers documented 5,796 deaths and 4,784 major cardiovascular disease events.
The interpretation was that “high carbohydrate intake was associated with higher risk of total mortality, whereas total fat and individual types of fat were related to lower total mortality. Total fat and types of fat were not associated with cardiovascular disease, myocardial infarction, or cardiovascular disease mortality, whereas saturated fat had an inverse association with stroke.”
The study’s researchers state inequitably that “Global dietary guidelines should be reconsidered in light of these findings.”
Perhaps the key top a healthy life is simply moderation in everything.
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