Food : the fat rehabilitated

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Published the 30.08.2017 at 12h19

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nutritionlipidessucre

Those who wish to improve their diet often have the same reflex : reduce body fat. Remove the butter, potato chips, crisps, deli meats, or cakes with cream. But this reflex would not necessarily be a good idea, according to the results of a study of McMaster university (Canada), published in the prestigious scientific journal The Lancet.

Through the analysis of the dietary habits of people all over the world, canadian researchers have made an interesting discovery. Fat food is not necessarily harmful to health.

Quite the contrary : those who consume the least have a mortality rate higher ! And this, what are fat considered to be : saturated, unsaturated, polyunsaturated.

A global study

These results may seem astonishing, but are extracted from sound data. Researchers relied on a cohort of more than 135 000 people from 18 countries at high, medium or low income. On average, these persons were followed over 7 years, and their dietary habits were recorded through questionnaires.

To assess the impact of diet on health, the study focused on mortality, incident major cardiovascular (heart attack, STROKE, heart failure), and its linkages with the consumption of essential nutrients : carbohydrates, lipids, proteins.

Increased risk of 23 %

And the results on lipids are clear : 20% of the people who consume the most in their diet have a risk of premature mortality decreased – not increased as the received wisdom would suggest – almost a quarter (23 %), compared to 20 % who consumed the least.

The consumption of fat, whether saturated or not, does not appear to be related to particular risks of myocardial infarction or cardiovascular mortality. High intakes of saturated fats are even associated with a reduced risk of cerebral vascular accident (STROKE) !