There is growing evidence suggesting that dietary fat intake affects the development and progression of heart failure. Studies in rodents show that in the absence of obesity, replacing refined carbohydrate with fat can attenuate or prevent ventricular expansion and contractile dysfunction in response to hypertension, infarction, or genetic cardiomyopathy. Relatively low intake of n-3 polyunsatu...

Dietary isomeric trans fatty acids-mainly produced by hydrogenation of oils-are suspected of increasing the risk of coronary heart disease. Dietary trans fatty acid intake is reflected in the fatty acid composition of adipose tissue. In an international multicentre study in eight European countries and Israel (EURAMIC), adipose tissue aspiration samples were obtained from 671 men with acute myo...

Fatty acids, which are the essential nutrients for humans, are an important source of energy and an essential component of cell membranes. They also function as signal transduction molecules in a range of biological phenomena. Recently, an increasing number of physiologic and pharmacologic reports on fatty acids have improved our understanding of the association of fatty acids with certain dise...

Dietary fats have important effects on the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD). Abundant evidence shows that partial replacement of saturated fatty acids (SAFA) with unsaturated fatty acids improves the blood lipid and lipoprotein profile and reduces the risk of coronary heart disease (CHD). Low-fat diets high in refined carbohydrates and sugar are not effective. Very long-chain polyunsaturate...

The long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids are considered to be of major health importance, and recent studies indicate that their endogenous metabolism is influenced by B-vitamin status and smoking habits. We investigated the associations of circulating B-vitamins and smoking habits with serum polyunsaturated fatty acids among 1,366 patients who underwent coronary angiography due to suspected ...

Reports of the effects of trans fatty acids on coronary heart disease are inconsistent. Trans fatty acids may particularly influence coronary risk when linoleic acid levels are low, a situation which occurs in Scotland where prevalence of coronary heart disease is also very high. The link between trans fatty acid intake and prevalent coronary heart disease was therefore investigated in the Scot...

BACKGROUND The studies on dietary intake in Polish children are sparse and the information about dietary intake in 6-year-olds in Europe is limited. The published studies on dietary intake in children rarely provide information on the intake of animal protein, plant protein and water. The purpose of the study was to analyse energy and macronutrient intakes in 6-year-old children from southern P...

BACKGROUND Concern that trans-fatty acids formed in the partial hydrogenation of vegetable oils may increase the risk of coronary disease has existed for several decades, but direct evidence on this relation in humans is limited. METHODS AND RESULTS With a case-control design, we studied the association between intake of trans-fatty acids and a first acute myocardial infarction among 239 pati...

BACKGROUND Although treatment targets for the consumption of dietary fat in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus are well accepted, little is known about the actual fat consumption by newly diagnosed patients or the dietary adjustments that they make in the following years. AIMS To measure fat intake in patients with type 2 diabetes in general practice at diagnosis, shortly after dietary co...

In this discussion it is important to realize that it is not recommended to avoid all saturated fatty acids from the diet. That is not the debate. The debate centers around at least two important issues: (1) is the intake of saturated fatty acids causally related to cardiovascular disease and (2) are all saturated fatty acids equal? This discussion is fed by findings from a recent metaanalysis ...