Dietary polyunsaturated fatty acids linked to smaller risk of coronary heart disease

Published: 3-Oct-2014

Study completed at the University of Eastern Finland finds


A recent study by scientists at the University of Eastern Finland shows that dietary polyunsaturated fatty acids may reduce the risk of coronary heart disease. The sources of polyunsaturated fatty acids include fish, vegetable oils, and nuts.

The findings were published in Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis & Vascular Biology, a journal of the American Heart Association.

Recent studies have not found an association between the consumption of saturated fats and the risk of cardiovascular diseases. It seems that taking saturated fats from the diet does not reduce the risk. In fact, what is added to the plate in place of saturated fat seems to be more important.

Earlier research found that the risk of cardiovascular diseases reduces when saturated fats are replaced with polyunsaturated fats. This has not been observed when replacing saturated fats with carbohydrates and the new Nordic Nutrition Recommendations published earlier this year recommended that saturated fats should be replaced with polyunsaturated fats.

The dietary habits of nearly 2,000 men aged between 42 and 60 were assessed in the Kuopio Ischaemic Heart Disease Risk Factor Study (KIHD) at the University of Eastern Finland in 1984–1989. Over the next 21 years, 565 men were diagnosed with a coronary heart disease. Out of these, 183 were cardiac events resulting in the death of the patient.

The scientists used computational replacement models to study how the replacement of fatty acids with other types of fatty acids or carbohydrates affects the risk of coronary heart disease. These models showed that the consumption of polyunsaturated fatty acids was linked to reduced risk of dying of heart disease, no matter whether they replaced saturated fats, trans fats, or carbohydrates. But replacing saturated fats with carbohydrates did not affect the risk of heart disease and the quality of carbohydrates, measured by the glycemic index, was irrelevant in these replacements. A surprising observation was that the consumption of mono-unsaturated fatty acids was linked to a higher risk.

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