A new review of existing research has revealed that while a reasonable amount of saturated fat in the diet poses no health risk for healthy people, trans fats are linked to an increased risk of death from any cause, Reuters reports.
According to dietary guidelines, saturated fats should constitute not more than 10 percent of daily calories while trans unsaturated fats, known as trans fats, should provide no more than one percent of daily calories.
Researchers at several Canadian institutions included data from forty-one studies of the link between saturated fat intake and its effect on health on more than 300,000 people, and twenty studies of trans fat intake and health outcomes that covered more than 200,000 people.
Saturated fat intake was not directly linked to coronary heart disease, cardiovascular disease, stroke or type 2 diabetes, while the consumption of trans fat was linked to a 34 percent increase in mortality, a 28 percent increase in heart disease mortality and a 21 percent increase in heart disease risk.
However, the researchers pointed out that more studies would be helpful in ascertaining the effect of saturated fats on health. Since all the studies were based on observations over a period of time, other factors may have played a role in their health outcomes.
Patty W. Siri-Tarino, Children's Hospital Oakland Research Institute, told Reuters Health by email that The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has given food manufacturers until 2018 to remove trans fats from the food supply.
