Middle-aged men and women who consume the most saturated fat live longer and have a reduced risk of dying from cardiovascular diseases

This study was published in the Journal of Internal Medicine 2005 Aug;258(2):153-65

 

Study title and authors:

Dietary fat intake and early mortality patterns--data from The Malmö Diet and Cancer Study.

Leosdottir M, Nilsson PM, Nilsson JA, Månsson H, Berglund G.

Department of Medicine, Lund University, University Hospital (UMAS), Malmö, Sweden. margret.leosdottir@med.lu.se

 

This study can be accessed at: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16018792

This study examined the association of fat consumption with death rates. The study included 28,098 middle-aged individuals who were followed for an average of 6.6 years.

The study found:
(a) Women who consumed the most saturated fat had an 11% reduced risk of death compared to women who consumed the least saturated fat.
(b) Men who consumed the most saturated fat had a 9% reduced risk of death compared to men who consumed the least saturated fat.
(c) Women who consumed the most saturated fat had a 45% reduced risk of a cardiovascular disease death compared to women who consumed the least saturated fat.
(d) Men who consumed the most saturated fat had a 6% reduced risk of a cardiovascular disease death compared to men who consumed the least saturated fat.

The data from the study reveals that middle-aged men and women who consume the most saturated fat live longer and have a reduced risk of dying from cardiovascular diseases.