Micha R, Mozaffarian D (2010) Lipids 45:893–905
Objective: Review evidence on effects of substituting saturated (SFA), monounsaturated (MFA) polyunsaturated (PUFA) and trans (TFA) for carbohydrate (CHO) on Cardiovascular risk factors, CVD events and diabetes
Design: Quasi-systematic review of RCTs and prospective cohort studies
Setting: Various
Participants: various
Main outcome measures: Changes in risk factors and hard disease events
Results: RCTs show that substituting different chain length SFAs, or MFA, PUFA and TFA for CHO gives rise to different effects on blood lipid profiles. Greatest improvement seen when PUFA replaces SFA. Evidence suggests SFAs have little effect on blood pressure and other indicators of vascular function, on weight gain, or on diabetes. Prospective cohort studies and RCTs do not show clear evidence of an effect of SFA intake on cardiovascular events.
Conclusions: “Public health emphasis on reducing SFA consumption without considering the replacement nutrient….. is unlikely to produce substantial intended benefits”. “Replacing SFAs with CHO has no benefits”.
Note to Readers: Any opinions expressed in the recent research abstracts are those of the authors of the original scientific papers and may not reflect the views of Sugar Nutrition UK