Butter IS bad for you (today's study claims) Eating a diet high in saturated fats 'raises the risk of death from heart disease, cancer and dementia'

• By SOPHIE BORLAND HEALTH EDITOR FOR THE DAILY MAIL
  5 July 2016B
• 
  

Harvard researchers found saturated fat diet increased chances by 8%
But slashing intake by 5% reduced overall risk of mortality by a quarter
Follows study saying one tablespoon of butter had no impact on death 
Scientific Advisory on Nutrition is reviewing guidelines on saturated fat

Confusion over the safety of butter has intensified after a major study claimed it does raise the risk of dying from heart disease.

Harvard research involving 120,000 adults found that those who ate the most saturated fat were up to 8 per cent more likely to die.

The findings come less than a week after another study found that one tablespoon of butter had no impact on death, heart disease or strokes.

And one leading cardiologist claims that eating butter and other saturated fats are not harmful and may actually help you lose weight.

But this latest study found that slashing the intake of saturated fats by just 5 per cent reduced the overall risk of mortality by more than a quarter.

People who eat a diet high in saturated fat, which is found in foods like butter, were found were up to eight per cent more likely to die, researchers at Harvard found

This would yield ‘substantial health benefits and should continue to be a key message in dietary recommendations’, the study published in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine concluded.

Saturated fat is has also been linked to dementia, by blocking the blood flow to the brain, and cancer as it contains oestrogen which fuels tumour growth.

Other experts broadly agreed with the findings including Dr Ian Johnson, emeritus fellow at the Institute of Food Research, in Norwich, who said: ‘There is nothing in these results consistent with the notion that ‘butter is back’.”

Dr Gunter Kuhnle, Associate Professor in Nutrition and Health, University of Reading, said: ‘The results of the study broadly confirm current dietary recommendation and in particular show that total saturated fat intake is associated with a higher, unsaturated fat with a lower risk for all-cause mortality.’

Eating foods high in saturated fats, such as mince, were found to be more prone to die from diseases including cancer, heart disease and Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s

The study looked at the records of 126,233 men and women in the US over a 32 year period.

Those whose diets were highest in saturated fat were 8 per cent more likely to die over that time – including from cancer, heart disease or degenerative illnesses such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.

But closer analysis revealed that switching 5 per cent of saturated fats with polyunsaturated fats cut the risk of death by 27 per cent.

Saturated fats have been demonised since the 1970s after a major study linked them to high levels of cholesterol.

Recently however these findings have been disputed by experts including Dr Aseem Malhotra, a cardiologist at Frimley Park Hospital in Surrey and founder of the campaign group Action On Sugar.

Dr Malhotra claims that saturated fat does not necessarily increase the risk of heart disease and may even protect against it.

He also argues that cutting saturated fat from our diets has led to us replacing it with sugar and carbohydrates, which are fuelling obesity.

The Government’s expert group, the Scientific Advisory on Nutrition, is now reviewing their guidelines on saturated fat over concerns it has been unfairly demonised. 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-3675261/Butter-bad-today-s-study-claims-Eating-diet-high-saturated-fats-raises-risk-death-heart-disease-cancer-dementia.html