Macro partitioning
A long-term dietary intervention reducing total fat to 20% of calories and increasing fruits, vegetables, and grains does not significantly reduce the risk of coronary heart disease, stroke, or composite cardiovascular disease in postmenopausal women.
For postmenopausal women, simply switching to a low-fat diet (20% of calories) with more fruits, vegetables, and grains is not enough to prevent heart disease or stroke on its own. While it may slightly improve cholesterol and blood pressure, it does not significantly lower cardiovascular event rates. More targeted interventions focusing on specific risk factors are likely necessary.
Over a mean of 8.1 years, a dietary intervention that reduced total fat intake and increased intakes of vegetables, fruits, and grains did not significantly reduce the risk of CHD, stroke, or CVD in postmenopausal women and achieved only modest effects on CVD risk factors, suggesting that more focused diet and lifestyle interventions may be needed to improve risk factors and reduce CVD risk.
Why this rating
Large-scale, long-term randomized controlled trial (n=48,835) with high statistical power for the primary outcome.
Source
Low-Fat Dietary Pattern and Risk of Cardiovascular Disease
Barbara V. Howard et al. · JAMA · 2006
DOI 10.1001/jama.295.6.655
More from this paper
- A low-fat dietary intervention significantly reduces LDL cholesterol, diastolic blood pressure, and Factor VIIc levels, but does not significantly affect HDL cholesterol, triglycerides, glucose, or insulin levels.Strong
- Among women who achieved the lowest intakes of saturated fat (<6.1% energy) or trans fat (<1.1% energy), or highest intakes of vegetables and fruits (>=6.5 servings/day), there was a trend toward reduced CHD risk, although it did not reach statistical significance after adjustment for confounders.Good
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