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Listen Here: For a full list of apps, go here. Or simply search “Sigma Nutrition” in your app of choice.Or listen directly on the Sigma website here. Introduction Omega-3 fatty acids are often viewed as beneficial or, at worst, neutral supplements when it comes to supporting cardiovascular health, lowering triglycerides, and offering anti-inflammatory effects. Much of the focus in recent years has centered on understanding how significant these benefits are, particularly for heart health, with many studies highlighting the potential for omega-3s to play a positive role in reducing cardiovascular risk. However, an emerging concern has complicated the conversation around …

In this episode, Professor JoAnn Manson will delve into the complexities of omega-3 research, discussing the VITAL trial in detail, comparing it with other significant studies, and providing insights into how to interpret and reconcile the diverse findings in the context of chronic disease risk.

In the realm of nutrition science, few topics have sparked as much debate and evolution in understanding as the impact of dietary fat on cardiovascular health.
Dr. Alice Lichtenstein, a renowned expert in nutrition and cardiovascular disease, brings clarity to this complex field. Her extensive research at several prestigious institutions has been pivotal in shaping contemporary dietary guidelines.

Dr. Baker’s research to date focuses on the metabolism, functionality, and underlying mechanisms of action of plant-derived fatty acids. Her interests include novel plant-derived fatty acids and exploring the effects on membrane structure and function.

Could this trial undermine the common conclusions that replacing saturated fat with polyunsatured fat decreases heart disease risk?

While it has long been acknowledged that high intakes of saturated can increase risk of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease due to their impact on blood lipids, there are some who question the association between saturated fat and heart disease.

Specifically, they may state that the evidence for this association is weak or non-existant, typically by pointing to some commonly cited studies that show null associations between saturated fat and CVD outcomes.

On this basis, they may conclude that there is no basis to aim to limit saturated fat intake to current recommended levels or that reducing saturated fat intake will not actually improve health outcomes.

In this episode, Alan and Danny look at the four most commonly cited publications showing a null association, highlighting some key issues. Beyond that, they look at a number of other lines of evidence on saturated fat that allows one to come to a confident answer on this question.

So does reducing saturated fat intake to recommended levels actually reduce heart disease risk? Let’s discuss…

Substantial evidence shows that a high intake of saturated fat in the diet has the potential to significantly raise LDL-C and ApoB-containing lipoproteins in many people, and in turn increase their risk of developing atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD).

However, people may raise what seems to some contradictory evidence, or what is sometimes thought of as a paradox: the impact of full-fat dairy on CVD risk.

This paradox arises because given the saturated fat content of full-fat milk, yogurt and cheese, we typically don’t see the same impact on blood lipid profiles. In addition, epidemiology can often show such foods in a favourable light. And the dairy fat story gets more interesting when we look at evidence showing there is a huge difference in the impact of consuming different dairy foods (e.g. butter vs cheese/yogurt).

In This Episode We DiscussThis episode is a supplemental/follow-up episode to the ‘Diet & Cardiovascular Disease’ Series of Sigma Statements. If you have not read those statements, you can find them here: Cholesterol, Lipoproteins & Lipids: Understanding CVD Risk The Impact of Diet on Blood Lipids How Diet Influences Heart Disease Risk In this podcast Danny and Alan will be re-capping the main important points from each statement, in addition to addressing follow-up questions or potential conflicting points. We’ll cover issues such as: Does ApoB testing make LDL-C irrelevant? “I heard PUFA/omega-6 increases inflammation and therefore should be restricted. Is …