Source: MEATINGPLACE, 8/24/15

A large review of past studies on the health effects of saturated fats found no clear link with heart disease and early death, but it concluded that trans fats from hydrogenated oils significantly raised the risk for those outcomes.

The research, published in the British Medical Journal, also found no association between intake of saturated or trans fat with risk of stroke or type 2 diabetes.

For the saturated fat analysis, the researchers from Canada’s McMaster University looked at 41 studies published between 1981 and 2014.

“The association between consuming saturated fat and a higher risk for similar health issues was variable and unclear," Russell de Souza, professor at McMaster University, said in a WedMD article. "But we want to be careful. We're not saying that we're confident that saturated fat is truly benign."

The review, which was funded by the World Health Organization, noted that saturated fats, mainly from meat and dairy products, contribute about 10 percent of energy to the North American diet.

An advisory committee reviewing the U.S. government’s proposed new Dietary Guidelines for Americans recently concluded that limiting total fat does not lower the risk of heart disease.

The Canadian researchers also found that a 2-percent increase in energy from trans fats was associated with a 25 percent higher risk of heart disease and 31 percent higher risk of death from heart disease.

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