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Healthy fats promote cardiovascular wellness, a new study featured on January 20 in the Journal of the American Heart Association has revealed.
Nowadays, there is widespread confusion regarding the amount and type of fat to consume on a daily basis, in order to forestall health issues such as heart disease, stroke, atherosclerosis etc.
The new 2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans specify that people should obtain just a tenth of their calorie intake from saturated fats (such as those found in fried and baked goods, fatty meat, butter, cheese, cream, whole milk and other dairy products).
The same nutritional recommendations advocate limiting the consumption of artificial trans fats (hydrogenated and partially hydrogenated oils).
Such compounds are normally found in pre-packaged foods, baked goods (biscuits, cookies, cakes, pies and crackers) or deep-fried foods (French fries, potato chips, corn fritters, onion rings, doughnuts, corn dogs, egg rolls etc.)
On the other hand, as study authors are now pointing out, little emphasis has been placed on the need to consume healthy vegetable oils, and many people wrongly assume that all fats are bad and should be avoided like the plague.
That is why researchers led by Dr. Dariush Mozaffarian, dean at Tufts University’s School of Nutrition Science and Policy, have conducted a comprehensive analysis, surveying medical records pertaining to 3.8 million individuals, from 186 countries.
They discovered that between 1990 and 2010, mortality associated with increased consumption of saturated fats has declined by around 21%. However, during the same time frame, the number of deaths triggered by overly low intake of vegetable and plant oils has only been lowered by around 9%.
Even more stunningly, despite extensive coverage regarding the harmful effects of trans fats, the prevalence of deadly diseases caused by overindulging in such compounds has actually increased by approximately 4%.
Lately, too much emphasis has been placed on the dangers of animal fats, with dietary guidelines strongly encouraging people to turn to nonfat or law-fat dairy products instead of whole ones.
At the same time, little attention has been devoted to the need to incorporate more plant-based oils and other beneficial sources of fat in one’s diet, despite the fact that such compounds have been proven effective in lowering LDL “bad” cholesterol.
That is why when people give up unhealthy fats, they are at a loss regarding what they should eat instead, so they turn to consuming carbohydrates, which actually promote heart disease and stroke by increasing the level of triglycerides in the blood.
As a result, at the moment, just 3.6% of all cardiovascular deaths across the globe (250,000) are triggered by excessive consumption of saturated fats, while around three times as more (711,000) are associated with an overly low intake of healthy fats, especially across nations like Germany, Russia, Ukraine and Egypt.
Given these findings, it appears obvious that nowadays people should receive more consistent and precise recommendations regarding what fats they should steer clear from, and which they should favor.
As study authors explain, not only should we renounce saturated fats, but we should also heighten our intake of polyunsaturated fats, such as those found in walnuts, sunflower seeds, tofu, fish (salmon, trout, herring, mackerel) and plant-based oils (derived from soybean, corn, canola, walnut, sunflower, flaxseed).
Moreover, we should also opt for foods rich in monounsaturated fats, like peanut butter, avocados, seeds and nuts, as well as various other vegetable oils (olive, sesame, peanut, canola).
Image Source: Pixabay
