A Changing Perspective on Saturated Fat

The recent American Heart Association (AHA) position statement (Harris et al., 2009) and a new meta-analysis of 11 cohort studies (Jakobsen et al., 2009) reaffirmed that the body of clinical evidence indicates that a reduced risk of coronary heart disease (CHD) occurs upon replacement of dietary saturated fatty acids (SFA) with polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA). The AHA specifically recommends that the SFA intake equal less than 7% of total daily calories.

Despite the evidence-based position on …