Research

Macro partitioning

High intake of total trans fatty acids, particularly industrially produced trans fats, is associated with increased risk of all-cause mortality, coronary heart disease (CHD) mortality, and total CHD.

Avoid industrially produced trans fats (found in partially hydrogenated oils) as they increase the risk of heart disease and death. Ruminant trans fats (from natural sources like dairy and meat) do not show the same harmful effects and may even have some benefits. Focus on avoiding industrial trans fats rather than demonizing all fats.

ModerateSupportsLOW confidence
Total trans fat intake was associated with all cause mortality (1.34, 1.16 to 1.56), CHD mortality (1.28, 1.09 to 1.50), and total CHD (1.21, 1.10 to 1.33)... Industrial, but not ruminant, trans fats were associated with CHD mortality (1.18 (1.04 to 1.33) v 1.01 (0.71 to 1.43)) and CHD (1.42 (1.05 to 1.92) v 0.93 (0.73 to 1.18)).
Russell J. de Souza et al. · BMJ · 2015

Why this rating

The study is a systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies. The certainty of evidence for trans fat associations with CHD outcomes is rated as 'moderate' or 'very low to low'.

Source

Intake of saturated and trans unsaturated fatty acids and risk of all cause mortality, cardiovascular disease, and type 2 diabetes: systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies

Russell J. de Souza et al. · BMJ · 2015

DOI 10.1136/bmj.h3978

Meta-analysis · 73 studiesCited 1,425×
Read the paper
DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10

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