Macro partitioning
Replacing 5% of energy intake from saturated fat with unsaturated fats reduces the risk of coronary heart disease in women by 42%, whereas replacing it with carbohydrates yields a smaller benefit.
To lower your risk of heart disease, focus on swapping the type of fat you eat rather than just cutting down on fat overall. Specifically, replace 5% of your daily calories from saturated fats (found in red meat, butter, full-fat dairy) with unsaturated fats (found in olive oil, nuts, avocados, fish). This specific swap is linked to a significant 42% reduction in heart disease risk.
We estimated that the replacement of 5 percent of energy from saturated fat with energy from unsaturated fats would reduce risk by 42 percent (95 percent confidence interval, 23 to 56; P<0.001)
Why this rating
Large prospective cohort (80,082 women), long follow-up (14 years), rigorous multivariate adjustment.
Source
Dietary Fat Intake and the Risk of Coronary Heart Disease in Women
Frank B. Hu et al. · New England Journal of Medicine · 1997
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