A new study shows the interest of consuming certain foods rich in polyunsaturated fats. Other fatty acids should be avoided, to limit cardiovascular disease.
In the United States, the hunt for “bad fats” is in full swing. After the publication of the New Diet Recommendations for Americans, a new study, published in the journal of the American Heart Association, estimates that more than a million deaths related to cardiovascular diseases could be avoided by modifying his diet to limit saturated fats in favor of “good fats”.
The beneficial fats would be polyunsaturated fatty acids, present in certain fish, in nuts or even corn and sunflower oil. To understand how different the consumption of different types of fatty acids could influence cardiovascular mortality rates, the researchers analyzed the diets of 186 countries.
At the same time, they reviewed several scientific studies that looked at the link between the number of deaths in a population and the consumption of certain fatty acids.
Good fats needed
According to the data available for the year 2010, 711,800 deaths in the world could be explained by a too low consumption of polyunsaturated fats. This represents 10% of all cardiovascular mortality.
More surprisingly, scientists are highlighting that not consuming these good fats is more serious than having a diet high in saturated fat.
Thus, people who had a fatty and sugary diet, but who ate foods containing polyunsaturated fats, would die less than those who had a diet that was simply low in good fats.
Only 3.6% of overall cardiovascular mortality can be explained, according to the researchers, by overconsumption of bad fats.
Good news however, between 1990 and 2010, the number of cardiovascular deaths linked to an under consumption of good fats decreased by 9% and those linked to an over consumption of bad fats, by 21%.
Inequalities between countries
But strong inequalities remain between countries. The most developed have indeed been able to implement measures to reduce the proportion of saturated fatty acids in the diet of their populations.
“Thanks to strong policies, fatalities related to the consumption of saturated fat are declining in Western countries, although in the United States and Canada it is less the case. But in low-income countries, deaths associated with the consumption of these fats are on the rise. So it’s a global problem, ”explains Dariush Mozaffarian, lead author of the study.
He believes that these results could push countries around the world to review their nutrition programs and set up new standards to promote foods rich in polyunsaturated fats.
Nuts, fish, vegetable oil … Consuming more good fats would prevent 1 million deaths https://t.co/Inh40kILQf pic.twitter.com/2lbLsccCy4
– Pourquoidocteur (@Pourquoidocteur) January 22, 2016
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