Nutrition Hotline
By Reed Mangels, PhD, RD
The Latest on Saturated Fat
QUESTION: What's the latest on saturated fat?
C.C., via email
ANSWER: Simply put, diets high in saturated fat can be harmful. These unhealthy fats can lead to higher blood levels of LDL cholesterol, which is associated with a greater risk of heart disease. Also, a diet high in saturated fat makes it more likely that cholesterol will build up in blood vessels, leading to an increased risk of heart disease and stroke.
Saturated fat is a kind of fat that is most often solid at room temperature, unlike oils, which are liquid. Foods like red meat, cheese, whole milk, ice cream, butter, lard, and tropical oils (palm, palm kernel, and coconut oil) all have high amounts of saturated fat. The main sources of saturated fat for Americans include hamburgers, pizza, snacks and sweets, meat, and dairy products, which together account for about 80% of the saturated fat in Americans' diets.1
A meta-analysis of high-quality research studies in which saturated fat was replaced with unsaturated fat found that heart disease risk was reduced by about 30%, similar to the risk reduction when statin drugs are used.2 Observational studies, in which participants were studied for many years, found that diets low in saturated fat and high in unsaturated fat were associated with a lower risk of heart disease and diabetes.2
Vegan diets are often lower in saturated fat than are nonvegetarian diets. Vegans can have high intakes of saturated fat if they use a lot of tropical oils. Despite being oils, these products are very high in saturated fat.3
Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2020-2025, recommends that those age 2 years and older get less than 10% of their calories from saturated fat.1 For a 2,000 calorie diet, less than 10% of calories is equivalent to less than 22 grams of saturated fat daily. Some vegan foods to limit or avoid due to their saturated fat content include:
- Coconut oil, 11 grams of saturated fat per Tablespoon
- Vegan ice cream based on coconut milk, 9-11 grams of saturated fat per 2/3 cup
- Vegan margarine made with avocado oil and palm kernel oil, 4 grams of saturated fat per Tablespoon
- Veggie burger made with coconut oil, 6-8 grams of saturated fat per burger
Saturated fats are associated with an increased risk of heart disease. The limited amount of saturated fat in many vegan diets could help to explain why vegans are less likely to die from heart disease than are nonvegetarians.
REFERENCES:
1 U.S. Department of Agriculture and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2020-2025. December 2020. DietaryGuidelines.gov
2 Sacks FM, Lichtenstein AH, Wu JHY, et al; American Heart Association. Dietary fats and cardiovascular disease: A Presidential Advisory from the American Heart Association. Circulation. 2017;136:e1-e23.
3 Eyres L, Eyres MF, Chisholm A, Brown RC. Coconut oil consumption and cardiovascular risk factors in humans. Nutr Rev. 2016;74:267-80.
