The three steps to prevent heart disease (and eating less saturated fat isn’t one of them)

Major studies have shown there’s no link between saturated fats and heart disease, heart attack, stroke or diabetes. Others have shown that atherosclerosis progresses far slower in people who eat saturated fats, say Aseem Malhotra from Lister Hospital in Stevenage, Rita Redberg, from the Philip R Lee Institute for Health Policy Studies in San Francisco, and Pascal Meier, from University Hospital Geneva.

As such, a low-fat diet won’t help reduce your risk of heart disease. Instead, there are three lifestyle changes to make to reduce your risk, they say:

1. Exercise more, and this could be as little as brisk walking for 22 minutes a day

2. Eat ‘real’ food, including saturated fats. The major way to reduce your risk is to avoid trans fats, from processed foods, and eat a Mediterranean diet, and especially the anti-inflammatory foods such as nuts, extra virgin olive oil, vegetables and oily fish

3. Reduce stress in your life, such as through meditation and relaxation techniques.

(Source: British Journal of Sports Medicine, 2017; published online: April 25, 2017; doi: dx.doi.org/10.1136/bjsports-2016-097285)

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