Research
Macro partitioning
Substituting saturated fats and trans fats with unsaturated fats (MUFA and PUFA) reduces total mortality, whereas substituting carbohydrates with saturated or trans fats increases mortality.
Focus on the quality of your macronutrients. Replace saturated and trans fats with unsaturated fats (nuts, olive oil, fish). Avoid replacing carbohydrates with animal fats; instead, choose unsaturated fats or plant-based proteins if reducing carbs.
GoodSupportsMEDIUM confidence
When SFA and trans fatty acids were substituted for total carbohydrate, a higher risk of mortality ensued, but when PUFA and MUFA were substituted for carbohydrate... a significant reduction in mortality was observed.
Why this rating
Based on large prospective cohorts (NHS/HPFS) with substitution analysis, though observational design limits causal inference compared to RCTs.
Source
Dietary Fats and Chronic Noncommunicable Diseases
Hayley Billingsley et al. · Nutrients · 2018
DOI 10.3390/nu10101385
narrative_reviewCited 109×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
More from this paper
- Adherence to a Mediterranean-style diet rich in unsaturated fatty acids (specifically extra-virgin olive oil or nuts) significantly reduces the risk of major cardiovascular events and type 2 diabetes compared to a low-fat control diet.Strong
- A low-fat diet intervention (targeting 20% of calories from fat) does not reduce the incidence of coronary heart disease, stroke, or type 2 diabetes compared to a control group with minimal dietary guidance.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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