Low fat diets increase heart disease risk

This study was published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition Vol. 70, No. 6, 992-1000, December 1999

Study title and authors:

HDL-subpopulation patterns in response to reductions in dietary total and saturated fat intakes in healthy subjects

Lars Berglund, Elizabeth H Oliver, Nelson Fontanez, Steve Holleran, Karen Matthews, Paul S Roheim, Henry N Ginsberg, Rajasekhar Ramakrishnan, Michael Lefevre and for the DELTA Investigators

Department of Medicine and Pediatrics, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York; Pennington Biomedical Research Center, Baton Rouge, LA; and the Department of Physiology, Louisiana State University Medical School, New Orleans.

This study can be accessed at: http://www.ajcn.org/content/70/6/992.short

High-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) is known as the "good cholesterol". The American Heart Association give the advice that it may help to prevent heart disease.

The objective of the study was to investigate the effect of reductions in total and saturated fat intakes on High-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels.

The study included 103 people of all ages and races who consumed one of three diets for 8 weeks.

The diets were either:

(i) 34.3% total fat,15.0% saturated fat (High saturated fat diet)

(ii) 28.6% total fat, 9.0% saturated fat (American Heart Association Step I diet)

(iii) 25.3% total fat, 6.1% saturated fat (Low saturated fat diet)

The study found that the more that total fat and saturated fat was reduced, the more that the protective High-density lipoprotein cholesterol was reduced. I.E. the low saturated fat diet reduced the protective High-density lipoprotein cholesterol the most. This applied to all types of High-density lipoprotein cholesterol.

To conclude: This study shows that a low fat diet increases heart disease risk.