Replacing 5% of calories from saturated fat with plant-based monounsaturated fat was associated with a 17% lower risk of coronary heart disease according to a study by researchers at Harvard University in Boston, Massachusetts, USA.

Monounsaturated fat from animal sources did not have the same effect.

Replacing 5% of calories from refined carbohydrates with animal-based monounsaturated fat was associated with a 4% greater risk of coronary heart disease (as opposed to a 17% lower risk when replacing with plant-based monounsaturated fat).

One Tablespoon of butter per day is associated with a 1% increase in total mortality according to a recent meta-analysis of previous studies by researchers from Tufts University and Stanford School of Medicine.

“This systematic review and meta-analysis suggests relatively small or neutral overall associations of butter with mortality, CVD [cardiovascular disease], and diabetes,” the paper concludes. “These findings do not support a need for major emphasis in dietary guidelines on either increasing or decreasing butter consumption, in comparison to other better established dietary priorities.”

One Tablespoon of butter per day is not associated with cardiovascular disease according to a recent meta-analysis of previous studies by researchers from Tufts University and Stanford School of Medicine.

“This systematic review and meta-analysis suggests relatively small or neutral overall associations of butter with mortality, CVD [cardiovascular disease], and diabetes,” the paper concludes. “These findings do not support a need for major emphasis in dietary guidelines on either increasing or decreasing butter consumption, in comparison to other better established dietary priorities.”

One Tablespoon of butter per day is not associated with coronary heart disease according to a recent meta-analysis of previous studies by researchers from Tufts University and Stanford School of Medicine.

There was a 1% lower risk of coronary heart disease associated with consuming one Tablespoon of butter per day, but the difference was not statistically significant, meaning that this difference could have been due to random chance.

“This systematic review and meta-analysis suggests relatively small or neutral overall associations of butter with mortality, CVD [cardiovascular disease], and diabetes,” the paper concludes. “These findings do not support a need for major emphasis in dietary guidelines on either increasing or decreasing butter consumption, in comparison to other better established dietary priorities.”

One Tablespoon of butter per day is associated with a 4% lower risk of diabetes according to a recent meta-analysis of previous studies by researchers from Tufts University and Stanford School of Medicine.

“This systematic review and meta-analysis suggests relatively small or neutral overall associations of butter with mortality, CVD [cardiovascular disease], and diabetes,” the paper concludes. “These findings do not support a need for major emphasis in dietary guidelines on either increasing or decreasing butter consumption, in comparison to other better established dietary priorities.”

One Tablespoon of butter per day is not associated with stroke according to a recent meta-analysis of previous studies by researchers from Tufts University and Stanford School of Medicine.

There was a 1% higher risk of stroke associated with consuming one Tablespoon of butter per day, but the difference was not statistically significant, meaning that this difference could have been due to random chance.

“This systematic review and meta-analysis suggests relatively small or neutral overall associations of butter with mortality, CVD [cardiovascular disease], and diabetes,” the paper concludes. “These findings do not support a need for major emphasis in dietary guidelines on either increasing or decreasing butter consumption, in comparison to other better established dietary priorities.”

Men and women in the top one-fifth for consuming the most saturated fat were 8% more likely to die over the next 26-32 years compared to the one-fifth of men and women consuming the least according to a study from researchers at Harvard University in Boston, Massachusetts, USA.

When compared with the same number of calories from carbohydrate, every 5% increase in saturated fat intake was associated with an 8% greater risk of death over the next 26-32 years according to a study from researchers at Harvard University in Boston, Massachusetts, USA.

Replacing 5% of energy from saturated fat with polyunsaturated fat was associated with a 27% lower risk of death in men and women over the next 22-26 years according to a study from researchers at Harvard University in Boston, Massachusetts, USA.

Replacing 5% of energy from saturated fat with monounsaturated fat was associated with a 13% lower risk of death in men and women over the next 22-26 years according to a study from researchers at Harvard University in Boston, Massachusetts, USA.

Total saturated fat intake was associated with a 17% lower risk of ischemic heart disease (both fatal and nonfatal) for every 5% of calories as saturated fat according to a Dutch study which followed 35,597 Dutch men and women from the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition–Netherlands cohort for 12 years.

The study also found that:

• Substituting 5% of calories from saturated fat with carbohydrates was associated with a 23% higher risk.


• Substituting 5% of calories from saturated fat with monounsaturated fat was associated with a 30% higher risk.


• Substituting 5% of calories from saturated fat with polyunsaturated fat was associated with a 35% higher risk.


• Substituting 5% of calories from saturated fat with animal protein was associated with a 37% higher risk.


• Substituting 5% of calories from saturated fat with vegetable protein was associated with a 19% lower risk, but this was not statistically significant, meaning that this difference could have been due to random chance (a 17% chance that it was due to random chance).

Fat intake is not associated with an increased risk of prostate cancer according to a 2015 review of the research.

Saturated fat intake was not.

Polyunsaturated fat was not.

Monounsaturated fat was not.

And total fat intake was not.

The same was true for advanced stage prostate cancer (with slightly different relative risks than those shown below).

“Current published cohort studies suggest no association between total fat, saturated fat, or unsaturated fat intake and the risk for [prostate cancer],” the authors of the paper concluded.

A 2010 meta-analysis which looked at data from 21 studies with 5-23 years of follow-up on 347,747 people found that dietary saturated fat was not associated with an increased risk for cardiovascular disease (which includes heart attack and stroke).

“A meta-analysis of prospective epidemiologic studies showed that there is no significant evidence for concluding that dietary saturated fat is associated with an increased risk of CHD [coronary heart disease] or CVD [cardiovascular disease],” the authors concluded.

The article was previously published on August 7, 2015.

Men who had experienced a recent coronary event and were told to replace dietary saturated fats (from animal fats, common margarines, and shortenings) with omega-6 polyunsaturated fat linoleic acid (from safflower oil and safflower oil polyunsaturated margarine) were 62% MORE likely to die—1.62 times more likely to die—over the next 5 years compared to men who were not given any dietary advice according to a recent analysis of an old study called The Sydney Diet Heart Study, a randomized controlled trial conducted from 1966 to 1973.

After five years, 17.6% of the men in the intervention group had died versus 11.8% in the control group.

The analysis was done by researchers at the US National Institutes of Health.