Switching to margarine ‘is as good for your heart as statins’

REPLACING butter and other saturated fat with margarine and vegetable oil cuts the risk of heart disease as much as statins, a report says.

It flies in the face of recent studies suggesting that those who eat lots of saturated fat are no more likely to die early than anyone else.

The new advisory aims to ‘set the record straight’, concluding the evidence ‘overwhelmingly’ backs the theory that cutting saturated fat is better for the heart.

Issued by the American Heart Association to cardiologists around the world, it said consuming polyunsaturated fat in ‘healthy’ spreads and oils could cut the risk of cardiovascular disease by 30 per cent – the same as from taking cholesterol pills.

Experts at Harvard School of Public Health analysed all available evidence on the subject and concluded that saturated fat – found in butter, whole milk, cream, palm oil, coconut oil, beef and pork, for example – was linked to an increased risk of heart disease.

Replacing this with polyunsaturated fat – found in spreads and vegetable oils – or monounsaturated oils, found in olive oil, avocados and nuts, cuts the risk of heart problems, they said.

Victoria Taylor, of the British Heart Foundation, said: ‘The recommendations are consistent with advice on diet and cardiovascular disease in the UK.’

The study’s lead author Professor Frank Sacks said: ‘We want to set the record straight on why well-conducted scientific research overwhelmingly supports limiting saturated fat in the diet to prevent diseases of the heart and blood vessels.

‘Saturated fat increases LDL – bad cholesterol – a major cause of artery-clogging plaque and cardiovascular disease.’

He added: ‘A healthy diet doesn’t just limit certain unfavourable nutrients, such as saturated fats. It should also focus on healthy foods rich in nutrients that can help reduce disease risk, like poly and monounsaturated vegetable oils, nuts, fruits, vegetables, whole grains, fish and others.’

However, his team, writing in the journal Circulation, warned some margarines that use ‘ trans-fats’, which improve shelf life, actually raise the risk of heart disease.