Lobbying efforts in both Canada and the United States attempt to weaken link between saturated fat and heart disease
Organizations on both sides of the Canada-United States border are bombarding government health officials with new research saying there is no link between saturated fats and an elevated risk of heart disease.
They say the decades-old hypothesis that consuming saturated fats increases the risk of heart disease is an outdated notion that has never been confirmed despite multiple large clinical trials.
“It is very much debatable and being refuted,” said Joyce Parslow, executive director of marketing with Canada Beef.
“It’s like we’re chasing down this massive devil when really, there is none.”
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Lynn Weaver, a registered dietitian and promotion manager for the Saskatchewan Canola Development Commission, said there is a reason groups like Health Canada, Dietitians of Canada, the American Heart Association and the World Health Organization are sticking with the stance that consuming too much saturated fat is unhealthy.
“Overall, the consensus is that we need to reduce the amount of saturated fat as saturated fat can increase our risk of developing heart disease,” she said.
Weaver said decades of sound science has proven that link.
The U.S. Nutrition Coalition said that is because those groups are relying on old science rather than a “large and fast-growing body of scientific literature” refuting the link.
The coalition says the flawed premise is one pillar of dietary guidelines that is starting to crumble.
It wants the U.S. Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee to abandon the proposed recommendation calling for a continuation of a cap on saturated fat consumption limiting intake to 10 percent of daily calories.
Health officials in that country are preparing to publish the 2020-25 edition of the U.S. Dietary Guidelines for Americans.
The coalition claims it is funded by hundreds of individuals and does not accept support from any interested industry party.
However, Politico ran a story five years ago saying the group’s executive director Nina Teicholz is a “crusader” espousing the benefits of high fat diets.
A similar saturated fat war is being waged in this country, where Canada Beef is concerned about proposed new front-of-pack labelling that is part of Health Canada’s healthy eating strategy.
The plan is to place warning labels on foods high in sodium, sugars and saturated fat.
Parslow said some influential health organizations appear to be softening their stance on saturated fats.
She noted that the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada does not set a limit on saturated fat intake and has acknowledged the recent studies finding no link to heart disease.
“The overall quality of one’s diet, combined with the types, qualities and quantities of foods, have more impact on health than any single nutrient such as saturated fat,” the foundation said in a recent position statement.
Canada’s Food Guide also recommends limiting saturated fat intake to 10 percent of total daily calories.
Prior to publication of the most recent guide, a group of 717 physicians and health professionals sent a letter to Health Canada urging the government to revise its stance on saturated fat.
“Although we understand that it is difficult to overcome four decades of entrenched teaching about the long-held beliefs of the harms of dietary saturated fat, we have essentially overwhelming evidence now that saturated fat is not harmful in the diet and does not cause heart disease but rather that the low fat dietary pattern has very likely caused harm,” stated the letter dated July 24, 2017.
Parslow also noted that a paper published in the Nov. 19, 2019 edition of the Annals of Internal Medicine journal concluded that only “low- or very-low certainty” evidence existed showing red meat was linked to any kind of disease including heart disease.
Weaver acknowledged she has seen a meta-analysis of 21 studies published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition in 2010 that said there is not enough evidence to suggest saturated fat increases the risk of heart disease.
But the same study concluded it is beneficial to replace saturated fat in diets with unsaturated fat.
“It may not increase your risk but reducing it is going to reduce your risk,” said Weaver.
“That’s where it might get a little bit tricky.”
The Nutrition Coalition points to a recent paper published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.
“The totality of available evidence does not support further limiting the intake of such foods,” the paper concluded.
The abstract was authored by a group of nutrition scientists including the chair of the 2005 U.S. Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee and a member of the 2015 committee.
“The past decade has seen a thorough reconsideration of saturated fats and now there are close to 20 review papers reexamining the evidence,” stated the coalition in a news release.
“These have near-universally concluded that saturated fats have no effect on cardiovascular or total mortality.”
Parslow said another factor to consider is that 10.4 percent of the daily caloric intake for Canadians is saturated fat and that has been the case for 20 years.
She wonders why Health Canada feels the need to recommend a 10 percent limit when Canadians are already adhering to that on their own accord.
Parslow also noted that 44 percent of the saturated fat Canadians consume comes from processed foods rather than dairy products and meat.
Statistics Canada data shows that only three of the 21 meals a week in a typical diet include a 100-gram serving of beef, pork, lamb or veal.
“We’re not over-eating red meat, so why would you want people to limit it?” said Parslow.
