333: Reduced and/or modified dietary fat may prevent cardiovascular disease

September 13, 2011

PEARLS 333, written by Brian R McAvoy

Clinical question: How effective is reduction and/or modification of dietary fat for preventing cardiovascular disease and cancer?

Bottom line: Reducing saturated fat by reducing and/or modifying dietary fat reduced the risk of cardiovascular events by 14%. Subgrouping suggested this reduction in cardiovascular events was seen in studies of fat modification but not reduction of at least 2 yearsÕ duration, and in studies of men (not of women). There were no clear effects of dietary fat changes on total mortality or cardiovas.cular mortality. This did not alter with subgrouping or sensitivity analysis. No evidence was found on the long-term health effects of altering trans fat intake. There was no effect of altering dietary fat intake on cancer diagnoses or deaths.

Caveat: Few studies compared reduced with modified fat diets, so direct comparison was not possible. The ideal type of unsaturated fat was unclear.

Context: Reduction and modification of dietary fats have differing effects on cardiovascular risk factors (such as serum cholesterol), but their effects on important health outcomes are less clear.

Cochrane Systematic Review: Hooper L et al. Reduced or modified dietary fat for preventing cardiovascular disease.
Cochrane Reviews, 2011, Issue 7. Article No. CD002137. DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD002137.pub2. This review contains 48 studies involving 71,795 participants.

Pearls are an independent product of the Cochrane primary care group and are meant for educational use and not to guide clinical care

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Pearls are an independent product of the Cochrane primary care group and are meant for educational use and not to guide clinical care.