Research
Macro partitioning
High intake of trans fatty acids (partially hydrogenated vegetable fats) increases the risk of coronary heart disease by lowering HDL and raising LDL and lipoprotein(a).
Avoid foods made with 'partially hydrogenated oils' on the ingredient list. These trans fats are particularly harmful to heart health because they lower good cholesterol and raise bad cholesterol. Choose whole foods and minimally processed oils instead.
GoodSupportsHIGH confidence
Trans fatty acids reduce serum levels of HDL and increase the levels of LDL and lipoprotein (a), another lipid fraction positively associated with CHD risk.
Why this rating
Supported by prospective studies, case-control studies, and angiography data, though the paper notes the overall evidence for dietary fat's direct link to CHD is complex.
Source
Diet and Health: What Should We Eat?
Walter C. Willett · Science · 1994
DOI 10.1126/science.8160011
narrative_reviewCited 1,012×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
More from this paper
- Replacing saturated fats with monounsaturated or polyunsaturated fats reduces LDL cholesterol without lowering HDL, thereby reducing coronary heart disease risk, whereas replacing saturated fats with carbohydrates may lower HDL and reduce the predicted benefit.Good
- High consumption of vegetables and fruits is associated with a significantly reduced risk of various cancers, including lung, stomach, colon, and oral cancers, primarily due to micronutrients like carotenoids, vitamin C, and folic acid.Good
- Reducing total dietary fat to 30% or less of calories, and saturated fat to less than 10%, is unlikely to have a substantial, sustained effect on body fatness or breast cancer risk, although it may modestly reduce CHD mortality.Good
Related findings · Macro partitioning
- Total daily protein intake of 1.6 g/kg/day is sufficient for maximizing resistance training-induced muscle gains, with an upper confidence interval of 2.2 g/kg/day.Strong
- Resistance exercise training combined with sufficient dietary protein intake acts synergistically to maximize skeletal muscle hypertrophy, with protein intake saturating around 1.6 g/kg/day for general populations and potentially requiring 2.0-2.2 g/kg/day for resistance-trained individuals.Strong
- Trans fats should be completely eliminated from the diet, as they increase LDL cholesterol, decrease HDL cholesterol, and are directly associated with increased coronary risk.Strong
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